Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is working on creating an artificial intelligence version of their founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, so that the company’s 79,000 employees can “talk directly” to the boss when they need him.
Meta’s founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg is obviously a busy man. With nearly 79,000 employees, it can be difficult for Zuckerberg to connect with everyone on the inner workings of the company that owns Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
Now, the giant tech firm is working to solve this issue by creating an artificial intelligence version of the boss to answer all questions as they appear. The AI digital clone is being trained on Zuckerberg’s thoughts, tone, and mannerisms to help workers feel better connected, according to reports.
According to the Financial Times, Meta is hoping that this project will help employees feel more connected to Zuckerberg, who also has a history of creating his own digitized version of himself and incorporating it into his technology.
Back in 2022, Zuckerberg shared an avatar version of himself in the metaverse, a digital universe inside of virtual reality spaces. The metaverse itself was highly criticized for its low graphic quality and glitchy interface, especially considering it came from one of the biggest tech companies in the world.
Meta eventually released an upgraded version of the metaverse, but also ended up scaling back their initial plans and vision for the platform, which was initially created to give users their own digital avatars and interact with other virtual humans who did the same thing.
Synthesia is a $4 billion UK-based startup that is known for making realistic video avatars. Recently, a representative from the company stated that the concept of a senior company executive using AI technology to increase their own internal presence is a new part of our digital reality.
“When you add realistic AI video and voice, engagement and retention go up significantly.”
Meta stated that they’ve moved away from focusing on the metaverse to focus on their development of AI-generated 3D characters to engage with humans in daily conversations and interaction. They’re focusing on building the character based on Zuckerberg.
The chief executive, 41, is estimated to be worth over $220 billion, and is reportedly taking part in the process of training his virtual AI counterpart. An insider on the project told the Financial TImes that the AI character would be developed using images as well as multiple videos of Zuckerberg.
Meta believes that this new project can be replicated in the future by other public figures, influencers, creators, and celebrities.
For now, however, there is no clear finish line for an AI Zuckerberg being used to talk to Meta employees. In the meantime, he will continue to present in person at meetings with thousands of Meta staff.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Zuckerberg could now use his CEO AI agent, a personalized AI system deployed by Meta to help the chief executive get internal information on the company faster, to prepare for meetings.
Like many other major tech companies, Meta is trying to use and incorporate AI internally so they can ideally help lower costs and speed up the pace of work. With Zuckerberg’s AI avatar, Synthesia believes Meta employees will feel more at ease when getting answers to their questions directly from their boss, or a digital version of him.
“People work better when the information they need is delivered by a familiar face or voice.”
Meta is hoping through AI integration that it can minimize organizational structures and increase efficiency, according to the Guardian. Zuckerberg believes that AI will be the key to getting “more done.”
“We’re elevating individual contributors and flattening teams.”
Like many other major names in the tech space, Meta is also using AI to compete with other companies by investing billions of dollars into the technology. Last week, the company launched Muse Spark, an advanced AI model that can allegedly estimate the calories in a meal from a simple photo, as well as plan a holiday by completing tasks and scheduling activities and meals.
AI is still controversial. Meta itself was ordered last month to pay $375 million in civil penalties for misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and enabling harmful content to spread, including child sexual exploitation.
Around the same time, a court in California found that Meta had deliberately made Instagram addictive in a landmark lawsuit that started after a young user’s addiction led to her being harmed.
Across the world many countries are even trying to ban young users from using social media. Australia has enacted a ban for kids under the age of 16, and Britain is trying to follow suit.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
