Within their latest Proof of Concept, artificial intelligence company Crowd Media (ASX: CM8) has showcased the interactive capabilities of its conversational commerce platform where digital avatars of celebrities and influencers can interact with fans, offer advice and unlock new commercial opportunities.
In their latest public release of ‘Digital Dom’ – a 100% synthetically produced version of Crowd Director Domenic Carosa – users are able to have Facetime-like conversations with Digital Dom.
Once the user asks a question, voice recognition processes the question and responses are then produced for the talking head to sound 100% like the real Domenic Carosa via voice cloning and facial expressions synced via 3D imaging.
Still being a Proof of Concept, there is a limited list of questions that Digital Dom can currently answer but Crowd is confident Digital Dom will be able to answer many more questions than his expectations of Bitcoin or share price movements in the future. This will likely come when Digital Dom is fully integrated with Crowd’s Q&A engine which has answered more than 180 million user-submitted questions and is being text-to-audio engineered by partner Aflorithmic Labs. When complete, the enormous databank of text can then be cloned to sound like any person on the planet and fully integrated into the Talking Head platform.
“While there are still many steps to fill in our roadmap towards a commercial launch next year, I am pleased with the progress being made to integrate our Investee Partner’s tech with Crowd’s Q&A platform,” said Crowd Media Chairman, Steven Schapera.
“This has the project on track to deliver what will ultimately become our Conversational Commerce platform capable of answering thousands more questions.
“Soon it will be possible for brands, influencers and celebrities to unlock new commercial opportunities from AI-powered interactions where fans can chat, be showcased products, make payment and automate dispatch – all from a quick conversation with the likes of Lewis Hamilton or Nigella Lawson.”
As a pioneer of influencer marketing, well before teenage girls ever dreamt of becoming ‘social influencers’, Schapera identified the commercial power of social media. Many of these concepts were identified during his time at BECCA cosmetics which he co-founded in 2001 before harnessing eCommerce to build a Company he sold to Estee Lauder in 2016 for $300 million.
With Schapera seeing his beauty product influencers inundated by fans seeking advice on product and beauty tips, he saw a commercial opportunity. If he could automate those interactions, influencers could commit additional time to their fans and drive eCommerce traffic towards their sponsors.
After conducting his own research following his exit from BECCA, Schapera identified Crowd’s Q&A platform as the most efficient way to bring his vision of conversational commerce to reality. This was driven by the millions of dollars he would save in R&D by investing directly in Crowd, and adding audio-visual elements to its existing chatbot.
Alongside his substantial investment, Schapera was appointed Chairman of Crowd Media in 2019 and has since been the driving force behind the Talking Head platform.
Leading a business transformation, Schapera has turned the company which reported a $26 million loss before his arrival into one with more than $4m in the bank which he expects to deliver 2 years worth of runway to accelerate their AI.
Critical to Crowd’s platform is the audio-visual component where the rest of the market can only offer text-only services, positioning Crowd as a disruptor within a hugely lucrative market.
According to research prepared by Boston Consulting Group, the conversational commerce market in the United States is valued at USD $35 billion but has the potential to reach $130 billion by 2025 as one of the rapidly rising trends in eCommerce.
Flagged for commercial launch in 2022, Crowd is confident their Talking Head platform will be able to rapidly roll out digital avatars that look, sound and react like influencers that converse through Facetime-live conversations.
Crowd welcomes users to chat with Digital Dom where you can ask him a range of questions, including his involvement at Crowd Media and how he became an early Bitcoin investor by viewing the Proof of Concept here.
*Owners of this website are CM8 shareholders
Alfred Chan is a Business Reporter at The Sentiment specialising in ASX-listed small cap companies, a bloodstock enthusiast and former equities analyst.
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