A few months ago, I began to get ads for an AI service called HeyGen. The platform promises to allow anyone to create a “digital twin” that will say and do whatever you prompt it to. It will replicate your exact facial expressions, gestures, and speech, so that you “never have to be in front of a camera again.”
The premise sounded appealing. We’re all being pressured to put ourselves out there more, create short-form content, and market our brands no matter what industry we’re in. Even LinkedIn is encouraging users to upload videos of themselves talking about their careers, and the app has added a TikTok-like feed. But who has the time to put on makeup, sit in front of a camera, record themselves, and post videos on top of everything else going on? The idea of a digital clone sounds appealing.
Influencers, who are always one step ahead on digital media trends, have already embraced this technology. They’re creating AI twins that can hawk products, speak multiple languages, and produce videos at a scale no human creator can match. I spoke with some of the companies creating these clones and an executive at talent agency CAA about what this shift means for the next generation of talent—and regular people who might soon start to encounter the same pitfalls as celebs.
As one lawyer put it: “The typical person does not want to see their face on billboards without their consent, and that’s effectively what can happen if you sign up for one of these AI platforms without understanding what you’re doing.”
