Online shopping experiences will soon be very different to the current one-dimensional standard following the launch of artificial intelligence company Crowd Media’s (ASX: CM8) latest talking head which was produced entirely by digital media and powered by AI. 

The talking head named ‘Digital Dom’ is a digital avatar of Crowd’s co-founder and Director Domenic Carosa where visuals were constructed from 3D imaging and his voice was artificially cloned from AI. In showcasing the launch, which is still in its beta, Digital Dom responded to questions posed by a user in real time, and with critical accuracy where facial expressions were in sync with audio and tone inflections. 

As has been the case with Crowd’s Talking Head project which commenced in 2019, responses were generated by AI that can instantly recognise questions and draw upon 10 years of data collected by Crowd’s Q&A Chatbot. To date, it has answered more than 180 million user-submitted questions and continues to develop efficacy with every new question answered.

While the project formally commenced in 2019 to leverage Crowd’s AI, the Company is ahead of schedule with plans to commercialise the platform in 2022. 

Digital Dom is an example of how Crowd and their AI Alliance of strategic digital media partners are able to clone any person to replicate both visuals, voice and responsiveness. The platform which will be able to rapidly roll out talking heads in minimal time and expense draws upon the rising theme of social media connectivity where platforms are saturated with users to the point celebrities simply cannot respond to them all. With the platform, they can and in doing so strengthen their fan engagement, promote corporate sponsors or offer education. 

“The Plan is coming together: we now have the substrate upon which we can integrate our Investee Partner’s tech with Crowd’s Q&A tech so that it becomes a conversational commerce platform,” said Crowd Media Chairman, Steven Schapera. 

“Although it might seem fake to you today, by the end of next year it will appear very real indeed. Imagine talking with a virtual Lewis Hamilton, or having a virtual Jamie Oliver chat with you about a recipe!” 

The market opportunity for Crowd Media and their Talking Head platform is substantial with the current standard of chatbots being text-only service. By adding visuals, audio, voice recognition and language translation, Crowd is tipped to disrupt the industry currently led by LivePerson which has established a USD $5 billion market cap offering just text-only chatbots. 

Upon the rollout of Crowd’s Talking Head platform, the customer experiences are expected to improve dramatically where online shoppers can converse with their favourite celebrity as they shop. Such an example would be having Kim Kardashian act as a personal assistant while browsing beauty products and fashion accessories. 

Key to the commercial opportunity presented by Crowd is a shift in their business model where the Q&A Chatbot has long been marketed to individuals. Moving forward, the Crowd’s business model will be geared towards other businesses that will be able to licence Crowd’s AI and talking heads. This was witnessed last month with Crowd’s first ever licencing deal of their AI platform to Forever Holdings under SaaS terms valued at approximately $305,000 over for a 17-month subscription

Following on from that deal, Forever Holdings recently released “In The Room With Nile Rodgers” which is targeted at music lovers. The experience is being delivered in association with Universal Music, the National Portrait Gallery, and Abbey Road Studios and has already started to generate revenues. 

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