AI is almost everywhere thes days. It’s now commonplace for AI to read your emails, draft replies, and even write reports for you. But in an intriguing new development, AI has taken its capabilities one step further – by attending meetings on your behalf. Yes, you read that correctly. AI can now participate in your Zoom calls for you.
This was the focus of a recent video shared by Aadit Sheth, the CEO of an AI news aggregator website, on Twitter. The video featured a demonstration of Pickle, an AI tool designed to generate hyper-realistic AI clones for video calls. In the footage, a person is seen attending a Zoom call, engaging in conversation as usual. However, the individual casually reveals that he is, in fact, the AI clone, and the real person is somewhere else. What makes this technology so intriguing is that the clone isn’t simply a pre-recorded video or a still image; it’s a live, AI-generated screen that syncs in real-time with the user’s voice, making it appear as if the person is present. This tool, Pickle, allows users to send their AI clone into video calls, eliminating the need to physically attend meetings.
The benefits of this technology are immense. Imagine being able to attend multiple meetings at once, or delegating less important calls to your AI clone while you focus on more critical tasks. It opens up new possibilities for productivity, allowing workers to manage their time more effectively. However, with these boons come significant challenges. As AI clones become more sophisticated, it becomes increasingly difficult to tell what’s real and what’s generated. The implications for privacy, trust, and even the nature of human interaction are profound.
In the same vein, Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok, has announced the development of OmniHuman-1, a new AI model that can generate hyper-realistic videos from photos and audio, basically redefining what we know about deepfake technology. While deepfakes have historically been associated with manipulated videos used for misinformation or disinformation, OmniHuman–1 takes this technology to the next level, creating lifelike video representations based solely on images and sound.
As the world becomes increasingly digital, the rise of hyper-realistic AI in video calls and media is challenging our understanding of authenticity. Are we truly connecting with real people, or are we simply interacting with sophisticated clones designed to mimic them? While these advancements bring convenience and innovation, they also spark a critical conversation about the ethics and consequences of AI-generated reality.
