TikTok would be developing AI-powered virtual influencers to promote and sell items on the platform, as reported by The Information. The AI avatars can read scripts based on messages generated by advertisers or sellers in their TikTok stores.
According to sources contacted by The Information, TikTok staff has been testing AI avatars, but found that they were not ready for release and attracted fewer digital sales than human influencers. However, TikTok believes that AI creators would be a great addition to the platform.
For now, the feature is not available and may undergo modifications. In addition, it is not clear how TikTok plans to distribute sponsorship money between virtual influencers and human creators on the platform, or even how it manages to not snatch people’s agreements with brands.
And the truth is that many TikTok creators depend on brand deals to make money, especially now that its $1 billion fund for creators has closed which, according to some users, did not pay them enough. The platform will have to find a way to implement this feature without alienating its user base, especially after asking them to urge the United States Congress not to ban TikTok.
TikTok is no stranger to experimenting with AI. In January, platform users discovered a new feature called AI Song, which, through the powerful linguistic model Bloom, allowed users to create “songs” and lyrics. That feature was only available to a few users.
In addition, the company started last year to label filters and effects with an AI tag and also required creators to inform viewers that they were using AI filters.
