😎Your AI Avatar Awaits

Zoom’s new AI avatars bring your digital twin to life

Key Points 

• Zoom is developing AI avatars that allow users to send a digital twin to meetings.

• You’ll be able to create your own AI avatar by recording a video of yourself, letting it deliver your messages.

• The new AI Companion add-on will connect with apps like Zendesk and Asana, plus help you personalize meeting summaries.

📒Context of the news - Earlier this year, Zoom's CEO, Eric Yuan, shared his vision of allowing users to send a “digital twin” to meetings while they’re busy with other things. Now, Zoom is moving closer to making that a reality by developing AI avatars that can attend meetings on your behalf.

👨🏻‍💻News - Zoom is expanding its AI features and has announced that soon, you’ll be able to create an AI avatar of yourself to send quick messages to your team.

👨🏻‍💼How? To make a digital avatar, you’ll need to start by recording a video of yourself, which Zoom’s AI will use to create an avatar that looks and sounds like you. After that, you just write the message you want, and your AI avatar will deliver it for you. This feature will work with Zoom’s Clips, letting you share short video updates with your team.

🧐What about deepfakes though? When it comes to deepfakes, Zoom is taking precautions. Smita Hashim, the chief product officer, said they’re using advanced authentication, watermarking, and strict policies to prevent any misuse.

Zoom will launch custom AI avatars early next year as part of its AI Companion add-on, priced at an extra $12 a month. Even without the add-on, paid Zoom subscribers can still create clips using preset AI avatars and voices. 

🤓What's more? The AI Companion add-on will also let Zoom's AI connect with more third-party apps like Zendesk and Asana, plus give you new ways to personalize things like custom meeting summary templates.

Tesla set to showcase robotaxi — here’s what to expect

Key Points 

• Tesla is set to showcase its robotaxi prototype called the "Cybercab."

• This robotaxi will use computer vision and end-to-end machine learning, allowing it to make driving decisions like a human.

• Tesla’s simpler approach means it won’t have extra sensors, which could make it struggle in rare driving situations and troubleshooting.

🔥News - Tesla is set to showcase its much-anticipated “robotaxi” to investors tonight. However, instead of a fully operational driverless taxi, the company is likely to present a prototype called the "Cybercab."

🚘So, what can we expect from Tesla's robotaxi? Tesla plans to use a straightforward approach that relies on computer vision and end-to-end machine learning. This means the robotaxi will use cameras to see and make driving decisions, similar to how humans do. However, it’s important to note that Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” feature, which uses this technology, still needs a human driver to operate safely.

Unlike its competitors, Tesla is taking a simpler route without adding extra sensors or systems like radar and lidar. While this makes their robotaxi cheaper to produce, it could lead to challenges. For example, Tesla’s system might struggle with rare driving scenarios that other companies are better prepared for. Plus, because the technology is a “black box,” it’s tough to diagnose issues if something goes wrong. 

💁🏻‍♂️In conclusion - Convincing regulators and passengers of Tesla's robotaxi safety could be a challenging and time-consuming process. Meanwhile, competitors like Alphabet’s Waymo are already expanding their robotaxi fleets and operating in select cities.