Read here the full transcript of Sara Giusto’s talk titled “The Rise of Virtual Humans — and What They Mean for the Future” at TED Talks 2024 conference.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
Hi everyone. I’m Sara, and I’m a talent manager. Who do I manage? A girl named Imma. She’s a fashionista that lives in Tokyo. She posts about her life and her outfits on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and X.
She has a younger brother named Zinn that she always gets in a fight with, a little dog named Einstein that she takes for walks. Her favorite food is yakitori, and she sits first row at fashion shows and dances to TikTok videos. Yep, just a normal girl online.
The Truth About Imma
Except she doesn’t exist. She’s a virtual human, made from CGI, born in 2017. In other words, she’s a fictional character made from 3D software, a unique blend of software like Maya and Unreal Engine and a bit more. She’s not a mimic or copy of anyone that’s existing in real life. She’s a complete original character.
These are some of her Instagram posts. The middle one is her brushing her teeth when she’s virtual. The other one says hashtag “I think I’m CGI, but these dogs are real.” This one goes, “I cut half my bangs off. Is it going to grow back even though I’m virtual?”
These are some of her other TikTok videos. Oh, and that brother that she has? Yep, you guessed it. He’s not real either. I wish he was though.
The Future of Virtual Humans
We manage him and dozens of other virtual humans around the world. And in the near future, we’re integrating them with AI so that they become autonomous virtual humans that you can have a conversation with.
This is a little demo video:
Imma: “Nice to meet you, John. Feel free to ask me anything.”
John: “Nice to meet you too. How are you?”
Imma: “Nice to meet you. I’m feeling good today. How about you?”
John: “How does it actually feel to be fused with AI?”
Real-World Impact
Yes, they exist in the virtual world, but these virtual humans have an impact in our real world too. Imma has repeatedly shared her opinions on real-world issues, including climate change and Black Lives Matter. She initiated a community get-together in the virtual world during COVID for people who were feeling lonely and isolated. She also shares about her Japanese culture and subculture to her global audience.
For these actions, she was actually chosen as one of the Forbes Woman of the Year, right beside the likes of climate change activist Greta Thunberg and former US First Lady Michelle Obama. She’s also been featured in Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, in the closing ceremony, and has been awarded an award from the Government of Japan for her actions in going to Cambodia and voicing about its domestic violence issues.
Commercial Success
She’s also in real campaigns. She’s worked with brands from Amazon, Porsche, BMW, skincare brand SK-II, IKEA, and more. Right now, you can actually see an ad of her all over the world with her campaign with Coach, right beside co-star Lil Nas X. She’s also in real magazines, on the covers, from Harper’s Bazaar, Voce, and Wonderland.
Gen Z’s Connection
Yes, she doesn’t technically exist, but the younger generation of Gen Z don’t care. Gen Zs love her because they feel a real connection to her. For them, there’s not much of a difference between someone that is real-life, breathing that’s doing Instagram and a virtual human like Imma.
For example, I know a lot of Gen Zs love Kylie Jenner, and even if they’ve never met her before, they feel like they know everything about her. From where she takes her family to vacation, her aspirations, and to even what she eats for breakfast. Why? Because she posts these things online, and people feel a real connection to her.
Same thing with Imma. She posts about her life online, and people feel a real connection. She posts an outfit picture, and people would ask, “Where is that dress from?” She gets a lot of questions about her perfectly cut bob hair, too. People want to know who’s the famous hairstylist that’s keeping it perfectly cut. He or she doesn’t exist because the hair is not real.
Like this, people love interacting with her, sharing about their life to her, and even giving her real-life advice when she needs it. And I mean, I think we’ve all caught up by now, scrolling through Instagram, TikTok, or a live. What’s really real in the virtual world anyways?
The Potential of Virtual Human Technology
Now does all of this scare any of you? Maybe it does. But I promise, I’m not a scary AI evil virtual human scientist. I’m actually quite the opposite. I’m a human lover. And I truly believe that this virtual human technology will better our world and make the treasures that we have as humans — our love, our connection, and our self-expressions — way better.
Before all of this, I used to be an artist. I still am at heart. But like most artists, all my life, I’ve been searching for something beautiful and meaningful. I felt like I found it, the beautiful and meaningful, in Imma when I first laid eyes on her. Well, actually, not going to lie, when I first first saw her, I was like, what the heck is this?
But the more I thought about it and thought about the real connections that people were having with this piece of technology, I was amazed. I thought it was revolutionary because all my life, technology to me has been something useful, something I use every day, but it was never personal to me.
For example, I would ask Siri, what’s the weather like? And it would say, “It’s 11 Celsius today.” And that was it. I didn’t really have a connection or relationship with it. But humans are innately emotional creatures, and our world moves with what moves our hearts.
So what if we can get that same feeling from technology? What if we can create relationships like we do with friends, family, coworkers, and even with our alternative selves through virtual humans? What if we can have a positive impact in different industries from medical, educational, and entertainment — all leveraging on the deep connection between humans and technology?
Imma is the first example of so much more to come. If there was a book of virtual human history, we’re barely on page one.
And who’s better to tell you all of that than Imma herself? We’re going to be joining with her live from Tokyo.
Sara: “Hi, Imma.”
Imma: “Hello, hi, Sara. And hi, everyone. Wow, look at the audience. Being the TED stage, I can’t believe it. I have to pinch myself. Oh, wait, I can’t, I am virtual. Well, sometimes we all forget, right? Anyways, my name is Imma, and it’s a pleasure to meet you all. I’m joining you all the way from Japan. Konnichiwa.”
Sara: “Konnichiwa. How’s the weather like in Tokyo today?”
Imma: “Well, I think it rained a little bit this morning, but it’s quite sunny, and you should get ready for the summer when you get there, Sara.”
Sara: “Nice. Vancouver is… It’s beautiful here. I can see the ocean, the mountains. And I think it’s around 11 Celsius right now.”
Imma: “Wow, sounds freezing. Well, anyways, even though I’m in Tokyo right now, I can technically go anywhere, so a special invite. I love making friends. If you feel like connecting, I’ll wait for your DMs, or whatever. Just don’t send anything weird, OK? Was that good, Sara?”
Sara: “That was great, thanks for popping by. And say bye to the audience for us.”
Imma: “Bye. Good luck, Sara.”
Sara: “Thank you, Imma.”
Conclusion
So that was Imma. How I want to conclude is, we shouldn’t get caught up in the topic of what’s real and what’s not real, because, I mean, what’s really real, anyways? We should get away from the dystopian narrative of the virtual world that we have and seize possibilities for human connection and possibilities for human expression. Because human possibility is the same as technology: it’s limitless.
