At the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Guangzhou, students can listen to lectures given by AI avatars that look and speak just like Albert Einstein or mathematician John Nash. The avatars can even answer students' questions. Universities are one of many settings in China where virtual avatars are being deployed. These computer-generated figures are built using artificial-intelligence tools, including video-generation models and large language models (LLMs), enabling them to speak and have conversations. Some of the first examples were digital salespeople on platforms such as the shopping website Taobao and Douyin, China's version of TikTok. More than 1.3 million companies in China offer digital avatar services, according to a 2024 Chinese government report. They're being used in health care, in education and as social companions at home, says Mengjiao Yin, a researcher studying AI and digital humans at Wuxi Taihu University in Wuxi. Although Yin hasn't yet heard of...
learn more
