Lucy, the virtual being AI from Fable Studio's Wolves in the Walls virtual reality experience, is getting around. Now she has busted the fourth wall and moved into the real, or virtual world, of the virtual Sundance Film Festival. This week, Lucy appeared as a guest at Sundance. She appeared in Zoom sessions with other attendees, and they were able to quiz her. As an artificial intelligence character, she responded with her own comments and views on watching expressionist movies at Sundance.

Lil Miquela's 1.5 million followers watch her eat sherbet on the beach, visit her favorite art galleries, and hang out with other robot models. Lil Miquela is a digital influencer created using motion graphics -- something companies have long been capable of making. But even though she isn't truly an AI creation, her success has inspired venture capitalists like Betaworks to invest heavily in virtual creators and work with startups to progress the technology forward. The future of influencers, according to the general director of Betaworks' startup bootcamp, Danika Laszuk, is digital beings who actually are powered by AI. Betaworks' next startup camp will focus on what Laszuk calls "synthetic media" -- a combination of computer-generated imagery and AI capabilities.

How we work and play is about to transform. After a prolonged technology "winter"--or what I like to call the'deceptive growth' phase of any exponential technology--the hardware and software that power virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications are accelerating at an extraordinary rate. Unprecedented new applications in almost every industry are exploding onto the scene. Both VR and AR, combined with artificial intelligence, will significantly disrupt the "middleman" and make our lives "auto-magical." The implications will touch every aspect of our lives, from education and real estate to healthcare and manufacturing.