Fans of K-pop Star Can Talk with His AI Twin
2023-11-03
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Listeners want to feel close to the musicians they support.
2And most would jump at the chance to talk with their favorite artist one-on-one.
3But famous people rarely have the time for that kind of meeting.
4So what is the next best thing?
5For Mark Tuan, whose new recording Fallin is out Friday, it was creating a digital avatar.
6The Taiwanese-American entertainer from Los Angeles, California is a former member of the Korean group Got7.
7He partnered with Soul Machines to create a "digital twin" called "Digital Mark."
8In doing so, Tuan became the first famous person to attach their likeness to the artificial intelligence (AI) program OpenAI's GPT.
9The technology permits fans to talk one-on-one with Tuan's avatar.
10"It's very different. It's not really me, but it is me," he says of Digital Mark.
11"It's a cool thing, that fans get to interact with him, too."
12Greg Cross is head of Soul Machines.
13He views Digital Mark as the future of fan interaction.
14Cross said we are only at the beginning of how this technology will change how fans interact with famous people and companies.
15Tuan's hope with Digital Mark is that as the technology progresses, so too will fans' relationships with his AI twin.
16He also hopes that they will get to communicate with him in languages beyond English.
17Getting Digital Mark to look like and act like the real Mark Tuan involved a lot of work.
18Tuan had to spend several days filming in a bodysuit to capture his movement.
19He made different faces so the Digital Mark could capture his emotions.
20And he spent a lot of time recording his voice as well.
21Right now, Digital Mark just stands in one place.
22But Tuan says that maybe one day they will have Digital Mark walking around too.
23The technology is in its early days.
24Tuan says Digital Mark has been talking about a musical event that does not exist.
25But he is hopeful to see how the avatar will progress.
26Fans have already been using Digital Mark to interact with Tuan about event dates and new music.
27As for concerns over how this kind of technology could be used in the future, Tuan is hopeful but has some concerns.
28"I've seen a lot of movies where robots take over the world," he jokes.
29"You never really know what's going to happen, but I think it is really cool."
30I'm Gregory Stachel.
1Listeners want to feel close to the musicians they support. And most would jump at the chance to talk with their favorite artist one-on-one. But famous people rarely have the time for that kind of meeting. 2So what is the next best thing? 3For Mark Tuan, whose new recording Fallin is out Friday, it was creating a digital avatar. 4The Taiwanese-American entertainer from Los Angeles, California is a former member of the Korean group Got7. He partnered with Soul Machines to create a "digital twin" called "Digital Mark." 5In doing so, Tuan became the first famous person to attach their likeness to the artificial intelligence (AI) program OpenAI's GPT. The technology permits fans to talk one-on-one with Tuan's avatar. 6"It's very different. It's not really me, but it is me," he says of Digital Mark. "It's a cool thing, that fans get to interact with him, too." 7Greg Cross is head of Soul Machines. He views Digital Mark as the future of fan interaction. Cross said we are only at the beginning of how this technology will change how fans interact with famous people and companies. 8Tuan's hope with Digital Mark is that as the technology progresses, so too will fans' relationships with his AI twin. He also hopes that they will get to communicate with him in languages beyond English. 9Getting Digital Mark to look like and act like the real Mark Tuan involved a lot of work. Tuan had to spend several days filming in a bodysuit to capture his movement. He made different faces so the Digital Mark could capture his emotions. And he spent a lot of time recording his voice as well. 10Right now, Digital Mark just stands in one place. But Tuan says that maybe one day they will have Digital Mark walking around too. 11The technology is in its early days. Tuan says Digital Mark has been talking about a musical event that does not exist. But he is hopeful to see how the avatar will progress. 12Fans have already been using Digital Mark to interact with Tuan about event dates and new music. 13As for concerns over how this kind of technology could be used in the future, Tuan is hopeful but has some concerns. 14"I've seen a lot of movies where robots take over the world," he jokes. "You never really know what's going to happen, but I think it is really cool." 15I'm Gregory Stachel. 16Maria Sherman reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted the story for VOA Learning English. 17_________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19digital - adj. using or characterized by computer technology 20avatar - n. a picture of a person or an animal that represents a particular computer user, on a computer screen, especially in a computer game or on social media 21twin - n. either one of two babies that are born at the same time to the same mother 22cool - adj. very fashionable, stylish, or appealing in a way that is generally approved of especially by young people 23interact - v. to talk or do things with other people 24bodysuit - n. a piece of clothing that fits tightly and covers the body except for the legs and sometimes the arms