Singaporean celebs test out new startup’s AI avatars

Photo Credit: IdoLive

Using artificial intelligence avatars to sell things online has become a norm in China, but the trend is yet to be established in Southeast Asia, where it’s still cheaper to hire real-life human streamers.

That might change with Singapore-based startup IdoLive. The company recently launched its services, claiming to be Southeast Asia’s first digital AI celebrity marketing solution.

While some startups tackle this space by creating metahuman influencers, what makes IdoLive’s offering different is that it is working with actual human celebrities and creating AI versions of them.

At the company’s launch, Singaporean celebrities and influencers, including Gurmit Singh, Li Nanxing, and Vivian Lai, created realistic AI avatars of themselves through the platform. The avatars can be used for livestreams, product endorsements, and even news broadcasting.

“Using our AI avatars, we can communicate faster and more precisely,” said Li, who is an actor. “In addition, there is a limit to our physical strength and time, and we can only fit our availability within a schedule, but with AI, it can replace all of that.”

For all of its benefits, doing AI livestreams as a whole has its drawbacks too. For instance, each AI bot requires its own computer, due to the demands they place on graphics processors. This increases capital expenditure.

Some human livestreamers also think that AI bots cannot connect with audiences the way humans can. Actor Gurmit Singh, for one, said that audiences may think he is merely doing an “easy job” for easy money.

But eventually, especially as AI becomes more common in people’s daily lives, it may just be a matter of perspective. “They will also realize that this is a clever job,” said Singh.

See Also: Can AI bots shake up SEA’s thriving livestreaming industry?