Zoom's Custom AI Avatar Tool Sparks Promise and Deepfake Concerns

Zoom is set to introduce a custom AI avatar feature in 2025 that will let you create a digital avatar that looks and sounds like you.

The tool will transform a video clip that users record of themselves into a digital clone, replicating the user’s head, upper arms, and shoulders.

Users can type a script for their digital double, and Zoom will generate audio that perfectly syncs with the avatar’s lip movements.

These avatars aim to help users save time and improve productivity. However, concerns about the potential misuse of the AI-generated avatars, especially for deepfakes, have emerged.

While Zoom promises safety measures, the exact details remain unclear, raising questions about how well the company can prevent the misuse of its technology for malicious purposes.

Key Points:

Zoom’s custom AI avatars will allow users to create a photorealistic digital version of themselves for asynchronous communication.
This tool is part of Zoom’s vision to streamline tasks like video creation and communication, but it comes with risks tied to deepfake technology.
While Zoom has mentioned safeguards like watermarking and authentication, the measures are vague, and experts worry about the potential misuse of avatars for scams or disinformation.
The launch is set for 2025, priced at $12 per user per month.

Key Quotes:

Smita Hashim, Zoom’s chief product officer, told TechCrunch the custom avatars were designed to help people chat “asynchronously” in a “faster, more productive” way.
“Avatars save users precious time and effort recording clips, and enable them to scale video creation,” Hashim added.
On safeguards: “We employ (…) technology to make it obvious when a clip is generated with an avatar, and (…) to help ensure the integrity of avatar-generated content.”

The introduction of Zoom’s AI avatar tool holds both promise and peril. On the one hand, it could revolutionize the way users communicate asynchronously by saving time and enhancing productivity.

On the other, it raises significant concerns about deepfake misuse, especially in a world where AI-generated disinformation is on the rise. Without clear, robust safety measures in place, Zoom risks contributing to the already growing issue of impersonation and disinformation scams.

As regulators scramble to address deepfakes, Zoom’s safeguards — or lack thereof — could become a key test case for the future of AI-generated content and its potential dangers.