UK tech startup Synthesia has unveiled a new set of AI-generated avatars that can convey emotions such as happiness, sadness and frustration.
Synthesis
Nvidia-backed artificial intelligence company Synthesia on Thursday unveiled a new wave of AI-generated digital avatars that can convey human emotions using a user's text input.
The company said its “emoji avatars” can blur the lines between the virtual world and real characters. It aims to eliminate cameras, microphones, actors, lengthy edits and other costs from the professional video production process. Synthesia has a studio in London, where actors read scripts in front of a green screen to train the system.
In one demo, the company showed three lines of text being inserted into its platform — “I'm happy. I'm sad. I'm frustrated” — and then the AI-generated actor in the video responded by reading the text in the tone of each corresponding emotion.
The company's technology is used by more than 55,000 companies, including half of the Fortune 100, to create digital avatars for corporate presentations and training videos, according to Synthesia.
Founded in 2017, Synthesia raised $90 million from investors last year at an estimated valuation of about $1 billion, making it one of Britain's newest AI companies. Accel, Kleiner Perkins, GV, FirstMark Capital and MMC are also shareholders.
The company addressed concerns about how its videos could be used to create fake news content, saying publishers must sign up as enterprise clients to create synthetic avatars. Content made using its technology is checked by moderators.
Synthesia does not publicly disclose pricing for its institutional clients.
The company also requires all of its new customers to undergo a comprehensive “Know Your Customer” process similar to that used in the banking industry, which helps prevent bad actors from creating fake company profiles to spread misleading information.
Synthesia said it is already preparing for the upcoming global elections and has implemented a set of controls to ensure that its platform is not misused by hostile actors seeking to manipulate the results of various votes.
The company is also part of the Alliance for Content Source and Authenticity — an organization of AI companies that aims to implement content credentials and digital “watermarks” for AI-generated content to ensure viewers know that what they are looking at is made of synthetic materials. Intelligence, not by humans.
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