AI-Powered Virtual People Can Now Take Over Office Receptionist Duties
Earlier this year, Hour One debuted its technology for creating fully digital, photorealistic, AI-powered clones for the purposes of content creation, but this week the company is showing another practical use case: in-office digital receptionists.
Hour One published the above video showing how the AI clones would work in an environment, but PetaPixel asked the company to show the clones a bit more head-on, as the only videos shared thus far have either been off-angle or obscured by digital graphics. While the company was unable to supply a video showing either of the two AI avatars offered in their digital receptionist package, Hour One did its best to give a closer look at what footage they had created:
Below is a still image of one of the avatars:
These AI receptionists are being offered through WinTech, a privately-held company that is using them as part of its ALICE Receptionist visitor management technology. The self-service terminals that WinTech has developed in the past have been used for 10 years, but the addition of AI avatars adds a new interactive “human-like” element to the automated process. These AI avatars can be used to help businesses that wish to reduce contact among customers inside businesses or buildings.
At launch, two avatars are available with the ALICE Receptionist system and can greet and check-in guests, verify face mask coverings and body temperature levels, and collect health surveys as well as print visitor badges. It is likely that only two avatars are offered at this point because making new ones is more labor-intensive than other deep-fake-like processes. But basically, the AI mixed with the WinTech product is capable of completely replacing a human at the initial point of contact.
That said, replacing humans might not actually be how the technology rolls out at first. From materials found on the ALICE Receptionist website, the first to use the AI human clones is most likely those who already have WinTech kiosks who want to add to their functionality. And despite the fact they aren’t real people, adding an AI clone to an automated process may make it seem more “personable.”
So while the Hour One technology looked interesting for content creators, this implementation of the technology gives a better idea of how the AI company sees its photo-realistic AI clones expanding out into the world today.
Hour One’s initial technology demo announced in mid-February made it look like the technology was still a ways off from becoming commercialized. However, with its integration into ALICE Receptionist, the company is very clearly indicating that its AI tech is not only ready for market right now, but has plenty of room to grow.
