Picture this: Your business’ communication team is buzzing with the idea of creating riveting video deliverables featuring your CFO and CEO to bolster your brand’s narrative. There's just one snag - the CFO is globetrotting on business, and your CEO would rather juggle flaming torches than face a camera. Enter the magic realm of synthetic video, where your leaders’ digital twins take center stage, effortlessly performing scripts fed to them, without demanding a retake or a coffee break. For a modest monthly fee, platforms like Synthesia roll out the red carpet, inviting every business to the enthralling theatre of AI video. For communications professionals, this isn’t just a new tool; it’s a showstopping magic act. The problem is that trick could go horribly wrong. And it requires a lot more study before we embrace it wholesale.
AI technology has now brought a capability that was once the domain of niche Hollywood effects studios to the average corporate communications team. Programs like Synthesia allow users to produce slick quality videos with a lifelike, human, albeit synthetic, avatar via a simple text-to-speech and text-to-video interface. Just copy and paste your text in, choose your human-modeled avatar, and the program will create a dynamic vocal performance while also animating the mouth of the model so that it looks like they are speaking the words you typed.
This is something I am studying in my current business communication research. The potential for businesses is enormous. Barriers to professional quality video products, like speaking skill, camera and lighting setup, and editing know-how, are evaporated with a click of a subscription. Dozens of diverse avatars, with dozens of voices replete with various global accents, are then available for your use in whatever language you choose.
Even further, for a premium upgrade, you can submit your own video and have your own digital twin. Or in the case of the communications team, perhaps a whole C-Suite set of digital twins.
Obviously, this technology raises many questions. Can AI video prove equally as effective as its traditional human counterpart? And what happens to brand identity and brand reputation when a viewer knows that it’s an AI spokesperson and not a real human speaking to them? Are the vital elements of authenticity and trust diminished by employing AI to be the synthetic face of the company instead of the actual organic face of your leader? These are questions I am studying through a series of experiments right now, and the early results of fascinating.
It is only responsible to also thoroughly acknowledge the potential this technology offers to scam artists. The ease in crafting realistic videos can be a double-edged sword, serving both bona fide business agendas and nefarious schemes. The nightmare scenario? A fraudulent video, cloaked with your company’s logo, going viral, only to be debunked later, leaving a stain on your brand’s reputation. The deepfake threat isn’t a distant thunderstorm; it’s knocking at our corporate doors, urging the necessity for robust verification frameworks in digital communications.
The research I am conducting now, along with the many case studies that will unfold as more and more businesses adopt this technology, will produce fascinating content for our new chapter in AI-augmented communications. The prudent professionals will proceed with a healthy balance of both boldness and care.
Stephen Lind is an associate professor of clinical business communication at the USC Marshall School of Business, where he teaches courses in business communication. His teaching encompasses strategic messaging, technology in communication, consulting, and refining speaking and writing skills for business contexts. He received his PhD, with distinction, from Clemson’s transdisciplinary Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design program.