Zoom CEO Eric Yuan recently shared an innovative vision of an AI clone that can attend office meetings on your behalf. According to Yuan, leveraging AI’s power in video conferencing can reduce the time spent in meetings.
“I can send a digital version of myself to join the meeting, freeing me up to hit the beach,” Yuan shared with The Verge.
“There’s no need for five or six Zoom calls a day when AI can take care of that for you,” he added.
Zoom has already launched Zoom Workplace, an AI-powered collaboration platform designed to enhance teamwork and productivity. The platform offers 40 new features like updates to Zoom AI Companion for Zoom Phone, Team Chat, Events, Contact Center, and the Ask AI Companion feature.
Speaking of AI Companion, it is a generative AI assistant seamlessly integrated across its platform. It boosts productivity, fosters better connections and collaboration among team members, and aids users in improving their skills.
Importantly, Zoom has emphasised its commitment to responsible AI. According to the video communications platform, they ensure that none of your audio, video, chat, screen sharing, attachments, or other communication-like customer content will be used to train Zoom’s or third-party AI models.
Users Raise Questions
Earlier in 2022, a similar project was presented on Shark Tank US. AI productivity platform Beulr enables a person to be at two places simultaneously. American businessman Mark Cuban commented on the model, saying, “If you want to succeed in this space, you must have a deep understanding of AI.”
As expected, the shift from AI co-pilots towards AI ‘autopilots’ has raised some concerns. Leaders like Henry Ajder, founder of Latent Space have questioned whether an AI avatar can truly make decisions “as you” and how such avatars would handle the vast array of personal data needed to act authentically in various contexts.
There’s also scepticism about how colleagues would interact with these avatars in a way that maintains continuity with real human interactions.
One user commented on X, “Creating clones that attend meetings for you will cause people to stop having meetings, thereby rendering these clones useless. Meetings should be there to get input from your expertise. Your clone can’t do that. And if it can, they don’t need you, do they?”
Also, now the usage of video messaging platforms is declining. Atlassian’s recent acquisition of video messaging firm Loom for $975 million, a significant drop from its 2021 valuation of $ 1.5 billion, highlights the market trend.
Once experiencing a pandemic-driven boom with app usage soaring to 21 times pre-COVID levels, video conferencing platforms are now losing their appeal.
What Others are Doing?
The launch of the Apple Vision Pro (AVP) this year has once again changed the way we communicate and how media integrates into our interactions. Some believe AVP is the first hardware to seamlessly merge the physical and digital worlds for both entertainment and practical purposes.
The AVP and similar devices are set to profoundly impact our communication, enabling 3D video calls, playback of real-life “memories”, and the sharing of immersive experiences.
Further, leaders including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, are of the view that AI systems could replace “senior employees” and “project managers”.
At Google I/O, the AI Teammate, powered by Gemini, was unveiled with the promise of alleviating workloads by automating routine tasks and facilitating team communications. Integrated into Gmail’s mobile app, Gemini for Workspace streamlines email management through summarisation and Contextual Smart Reply suggestions.
ChatGPT’s desktop app, available to both free and paid users, offers seamless integration into users’ workflow, further exemplifying the trend of AI co-pilots enhancing productivity across different platforms and applications.
In 2023, Meta announced a new feature allowing users to use their avatars for answering and making video calls on Instagram and Messenger. According to the company, this functionality enables users to participate in video calls even when they’re not camera-ready.
The result is an animated video call where you can interact without actually seeing each other.
What’s Next?
As tech giants roll out AI features for the workplace, startups are also joining the race. A UK-based startup Artisan AI is on a mission to create advanced human-like digital workers called Artisans.
So far, they have released Ava, a sales representative for Artisan. Ava operates as a business development representative (BDR) who streamlines the entire outbound sales process, requiring only a brief 10-minute conversation for setup.
Well, in today’s rapidly evolving landscape, AI’s ability to understand emotions is emerging as a powerful asset rather than a cause of concern. Despite initial reservations regarding privacy, these AI systems can significantly enhance employee well-being.
So, maybe it’s time to be friends with AI.
