AI humans in China just proved they are better influencers

Beijing – The avatars generated by artificial intelligence are now able to sell more than real people cannot, according to a collaboration between the Chinese technology company Baidu and a popular livestream.

Luo Yonghao, one of the oldest and most popular lives in China, and its co-host Xiao Mu both used digital versions of themselves to interact with viewers in real time for more than six hours on Sunday on the Baidu electronic commerce delivery platform “Youxuan”, said Chinese technology company. The session shaved in 55 million yuan ($ 7.65 million).

In comparison, Luo’s first attempt live on Youxuan last month, which lasted just over four hours, saw fewer orders for consumer electronics, food and other key products, said Baidu.

Luo said it was his first time that virtual human technology has been sold products via live broadcasting.

“The digital human effect scared me … I am a little dizzy”, he Said 1.7 million followers said On the Weibo social media platform, according to a CNBC translation.

Luo began live delivery in April 2020 on the short video application of Bytedance Douyin, in an attempt to repay the debts Accumulated by his smartphone smartphone company. His account “Be Friends” Douyin Livestream has nearly 24.7 million followers.

Luo and the avatars of his co-host were built using the generative model of Baidu AI, who learned of five years of videos to imitate their jokes and their style, Wu Jialu, responsible for the search for the Luo’s Other Company, Be friends who holdtold CNBC on Wednesday.

“This is an in -depth moment for the entire live and digital human industry in China,” said Wu in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. Deepseek, the Chinese version of Openai, shook global investors in January with its claims to compete with the cat Use of an open source approach.

AI avatars can greatly reduce costs, as companies do not need to hire a large production team or a live studio. Digital avatars can also disseminate without stopping breaks.

“We have always been skeptical about the dissemination of digital people,” said Wu, noting that the company had tried various types of digital humans over the years.

But he said Baidu now offers the best digital human product currently available, compared to the first days of live electronic commerce five or six years ago.

Live purchases took off in China after the pandemic Forced companies to find alternative sales channels. More and more people are turning to live broadcast to earn money from commissions and virtual donations in the midst of slower economic growth.

Live broadcast generated so many sales on Douyin last year that the application exceeded the traditional electronic commerce company Jd.com To become the second largest electronic commerce platform in China – and ate in the market share of the main player Alibabaaccording to A WorldPanel and Bain & Company report last week. JD.com and Taobao d’Alibaba also offer live sales gates.

Meanwhile, other Chinese companies, including the Tencent technology giant, have developed tools to create digital people who can be used as news presenters. At the end of 2023, several companies started Try virtual human lives During the shopping day of the singles day.

But analysts warned that the products sold via live flows tend to have a high rate of return Because they are often impulsive purchases.

The biggest challenge to use virtual humans in Livestream is no longer technology, but compliance and requirements of the platform, said WU. Digital humans must be trained to comply with product advertising regulations, while the main live dissemination platforms can have different rules on the authorization of virtual people to organize sessions, he said.

For example, Douyin has Restrictions deployed on the use of technologyEspecially if virtual people do not interact with viewers.

Although Luo’s next virtual human appearance has not yet been established, Wu said he was expecting it very soon. And in the future, he said, digital humans could easily in difficulty in difficulty in several languages ​​to reach users outside of China.