Her face is a deep impersonation. Her body belongs to a group of performers of comparable stature. However, when AI humans become more common in South Korea, she sings, reads the news, and sells luxury clothing on television.
Meet Zaein, one of South Korea's most active virtual persons built by Pulse9, an artificial intelligence company working to bring corporate fantasies of the ideal employee to life.
Pulse9 has built artificial beings for some of South Korea's major businesses, including Shinsegae, and research suggests that the global market for such lifelike creatures might reach $527 billion by 2030.
In South Korea, AI persons have enrolled in universities, interned at big corporations, and regularly appear on live television driving sellouts of things ranging from food to luxury handbags.
However, according to Pulse9, this is just the beginning. Park Ji-eun, the company's CEO, told AFP that they are "working on developing the technology to broaden AI human use."
"Virtual humans are basically capable of carrying out much of what real people do," she said, adding that at the current level of AI technology, humans are still required - for the time being.
The K-pop business originally drove demand for AI humans in South Korea, with the idea of a virtual star — not prone to scandals and able to work 24/7 — proving appealing with the country's notoriously hard-working music firms.
However, Pulse9 is currently "expanding their roles in society to show that these virtual humans aren't just fantasy idols but can coexist with humans as colleagues and friends" , Park stated.
Zaein's face was developed using a deep learning analysis of K-pop singers' faces over the last two decades — an AI technology that teaches computers to interpret difficult data.
She is brought to life by superimposing the deepfake on a real actor, who is doe-eyed with delicate features, pale complexion, and a willowy form.
More than ten human performers, each with a unique skill set ranging from singing, dancing, acting, and reporting, assist in animating Zaein, making this AI invention "special," according to Park.
On a Monday morning, AFP met with one of the performers as she prepared to make a report as Zaein on South Korean network SBS's live morning news program.
"I think it can be a good practice for people who want to become celebrities, and that's what appealed to me," said the actor, who did not want to be identified owing to company policy.
According to a spokeswoman for Pulse9, the identities of all human actors are disguised, and their true faces are not visible.
Despite the tight safeguards in place to keep their identities disguised, the actor stated that performing as a virtual human opened up new opportunities.
"Typically, a lot of people in their teens and young people become K-pop idols and I'm way past that age, but it's nice to be able to take on that challenge," the actress, who is now in her 30s, added.
Creating artificial humans will continue to necessitate the use of humans "until a really strong AI is created in the future that will be able to process everything by itself," according to Park.
Since ChatGPT appeared on the scene at the end of last year, the possibilities — and possible risks — of AI have surged into the public consciousness.
Experts from all across the world, including AI pioneers, have warned of the hazards, and numerous countries are attempting to regulate the powerful but dangerous creation.
Park, on the other hand, is unconcerned. Her organization is developing new virtual idols, virtual influencers, and virtual sales agents to take over customer-facing jobs for South Korean corporations, which are struggling with recruitment in the country with a low birth rate.
South Korea — and the rest of the world — needs better, clearer restrictions on what AI can and cannot do, she says, adding that when done correctly, the technology may increase "the richness of life."
The problem is that a deepfake can "make it impossible to tell what is real and what is fake," according to Kim Myuhng-joo, a professor of information security at Seoul Women's University.
"It's a heinous tool when used to harm others or put people in danger." That is why it has become a problem."
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