As advances in computer graphics and natural language AI have made it easier to create realistic-seeming virtual humans, some companies are attempting to turn these artificial personas into influencers that can work on behalf of brands and cultivate a fan base. One such company is New Zealand-based startup Uneeq, maker of a digital human called Sophie, who has partnered with brands like BMW, Deutsche Telekom and IBM. Uneeq recently launched a new collection of nonfungible token (NFT) art as a way for Sophie to build her profile and better integrate her into the constellation of emerging technologies known as Web3. Sophie isn't the first AI persona to sell NFTs; that distinction likely belongs to similarly named Sophia the robot, who managed to sell a "self-portrait" for nearly $700,000 last year. But Uneeq CEO Danny Tomsett said Sophie's NFTs aren't necessarily as much about raising revenue as building a fan community around Sophie and boosting her status as a tech-savvy influencer.

One year ago, I was visiting with the CEO of a financial services company, and she was telling me about its implementation of digital employees. "They do rote tasks, and they work on projects," she said. "In fact, we even assign them employee numbers!" I was aware of digitalizing routine, repetitive tasks for digital agents to perform, and of the work that was being done with robotic process automation (RPA)--but was surprised at the idea of a digital assistant that was a full-time employee in an organization. Now one year later, digital assistants are being taught to behave in even more human-like fashion so they can assume more responsibilities.

IBM, Amazon, Deloitte, DXC, and Accenture are partnering with digital human experts at UneeQ to push the advance and ongoing adoption of advanced conversational AI, according to a recent press release. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has found its way into a wide spectrum of human experiences -- from routine transactions to meaningful, life-changing events. Soon it may be hard to tell where organic interactions end and AI features begin. Digital humans are AI-powered life-like virtual beings that exist both in the real world and online, helping customers and businesses worldwide. A leap beyond standard chatbots, they even look like us, and are becoming a trend among major companies.

Since the dawn of chatbots and digital assistant creation, one critique has been universal: the helper is not human-like enough. This issue spans enterprises, and IT developers and startups are now developing AI that is human-like, emotional and responsive. Christian Selchau-Hansen, CEO of enterprise software company Formation and former manager of product at social game development company Zynga, said that one of the major uses of AI in video games is the implementation of generative adversarial network (GAN) technology, image recognition and replication in character design. The ability of an algorithm to read emotion, generate emotion from text and accurately portray emotion enables a heightened level of gameplay. "Whether it's GPT-3 or the processing and techniques of developments like deepfakes … the good things that come from [these developments] are more immersive worlds," Selchau-Hansen said.

"Roman" and I haven't exchanged words for about 10 seconds, but you wouldn't know it from the look on his face. This artificially intelligent avatar, a product of New Zealand-based Soul Machines, is supposed to offer human-like interaction by simulating the way our brains handle conversation. Roman can interpret facial expressions, generate expressions of his own, and converse on a variety of topics--making him what Soul Machines calls a "digital hero." Right now, though, Roman is glitching, stuck in a routine of blinking, furrowing his eyebrows, and twisting his mouth into a polite half-smile. Moments ago, he'd asked me what music I would beam into deep space if I were in charge of NASA, but my answer--the seminal modern jazz fusion tune "Lingus" by Snarky Puppy, of course--seems to have caught him off guard.