Billie or Kendall Jenner, Tamika or Naomi Osaka: Synthetic Lives
The latest announcements from Meta with its Meta AI pave the way for synthetic humans, at their core the power of parasocial relationships
At the last Meta Connect, Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of 28 new artificial intelligences, based on Meta AI. The promise: a new assistant with which we will soon be able to interact like with a person. Especially on messaging applications.
Where the subject becomes spectacular is that each assistant will have its own personality.
And Meta has based these characters on celebrities. Kendall Jenner is now 'Billie', a 'no-nonsense,' 'loyal to death' companion, while Naomi Osaka becomes 'Tamika,' a Sailor Moon in the making, passionate about anime. That's quite something.
Liveness is changing the game. By taking parasocial relationships to new heights.
The synthesis of humans and artificial intelligence is a topic that has been around for quite some time. Yet, the combination of parasocial relationships and artificial intelligence is now taking this concept to the next level. By embedding even deeper into people's hearts.
By using some of Cialdini's persuasion principles, we better understand the roadmap of these Meta AIs:
1. Authority: A Meta AI can synthesize and disseminate a vast knowledge base on specific subjects, not just as a giant library, but eventually by developing articulated, evolving thoughts.
2. Consistency: It can maintain a tone and direction; what was once very robotic is now becoming increasingly sophisticated.
3. Social proof: Meta AIs can aggregate millions of "followers" around them, especially when they are synthetic versions of celebrities.
4. Likability: An AI can convey a sense of camaraderie through its language and by navigating certain cultural codes.
Companion of Liveness
Meta AIs are banking on the development of real emotions through artificially reciprocal exchanges. Influencers and content creators are already on board to increase their revenues through virtual avatars. The logic of a 'companion' is not trivial: AIs want to become a continuous support across all points of contact.
This thesis aligns with the idea that social networks are transitioning humans from being alive to being in liveness which refers to the quality or state of being alive. Liveness is a new form of life (connected, permanent), a substance (flows that come both from the use of social networks and feed them), a state (feeling liveness when active on a social network), and even capital (transmitting a level of liveness to one's surroundings or even to children). It plays with the spatial and temporal dimensions created by the development of communication infrastructures like the internet. The field of artificial intelligence allows for an even more nuanced play with the intensity of this vivance. It remains to be seen which companions we will choose to accompany us on this journey.