Today, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, the commercialization of AI has begun to expand to a new field - emotional companionship. Among them, Xiaoice's X EVA App, launched in January this year, is trying to shape the deep connection between users and avatars through AI cloning. The influencer "Thank you Junjun" provided an AI clone and completed the data training in just two hours. Today, with hundreds of fans paying to talk to him, he is optimistic about the business model.
From Xiaoice's AI robots to independent social products, Xiaoice has been focusing on emotional computing and is committed to building a stable emotional relationship between humans and AI, and AI cloning products are designed to make this relationship deeper and more interesting. Li Di, CEO of Xiaoice, emphasized that the goal of this product is to win with emotion.
However, this is not an easy task. The industry is still taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the true value of emotional companionship provided by AI and whether this value can be translated into a sustainable and stable source of income. Liu Huaimin (pseudonym), deputy general manager of a well-known Chinese listed company, believes that the key to the success of its business model is whether AI clones can move from a temporary novelty to a long-term dependence.
Thank you Junjun" is an influencer with 450,000 followers, and his foray into AI clones began by chance. Since creating the AI avatar, he has more than 600 paying fans and promotes his AI avatar by selling photo albums based on marketing suggestions from Xiaoice employees. On the AI landscape of influencers, many creators with fewer followers can also make considerable profits, because they are more effective in training and selling their AI clones.
Despite mixed user feedback, Xiaoice is still confident and has set its sights on the broader mass market. Regular users now have the opportunity to create their own AI copy and foster emotional connections through a variety of interactions.
However, the authenticity of AI clones in terms of emotional companionship is still questioned. After all, users know exactly they're talking to a machine, even if the AI mimics the influencer's voice and response patterns. Industry insiders like Mr. Liu have suggested that the model's enduring appeal could be undermined if fans realize that they are only paying to communicate with the results of their training and not to the influencer himself.
In fact, as Li Di argues, the acceptance of products on this track depends not only on their entertainment, but more on the solid emotional bond they have established with users. Whether this will last will be seen over time, and there are questions about whether the product will continue to iterate on innovative content to sustain user interest.
Not only that, but in the booming AI social market, new products and applications are emerging one after another. Li Di said that despite the pressure of involution in the industry, AI cloning products based on the C2C business model may have different market dynamics. Because once a competitor adopts the free-to-play model, the creator loses out of profit**.
With the rise of AI clones, Xiaoice and the industry as a whole are standing at a new starting point of the calendar. Whether AI emotional companionship can become an inevitable trend in the future, or just a passing fad, the market will vote to determine the long-term value and potential of this technology. AI Artificial Intelligence