AI is driving an emotional feast.
A few days ago, a hot search touched the heartstrings of many people - spending 10 yuan to "resurrect" relatives with AI and "see them again". As soon as the topic came out, there were heated discussions, some voices believed that the virtual humans created by AI could make up for the pain, and some voices said that the new technology of voice change and face change is very likely to trigger a new ** network.
Behind the controversy is a consumer revolution brought about by AI, and some people have seized the opportunity to see new tracks and new entrepreneurial opportunities.
Among them is Meng Xingyi, who is doing an AI store in ** (Turing says Turingtalkai) is his nth venture. Meng Xing was also a hardcore coser in the cos circle (referring to the role-playing hobby group) with hundreds of thousands of fans - kappa; He also worked as a "screw" in a large factory, leading an industry from 0 to 1 ......As the first batch of representative merchants in the first-level category of artificial intelligence services, Turing said that within 3 months of opening the store, the sales volume of the popular single product "AI Hanfu Photo Service" exceeded 10,000 orders, and the products as low as one penny in the store have become a sharp tool for drainage, so that countless first-time experiencers have gone from insensitive AI to understanding AI and recognizing AI.
Like countless AI practitioners, Meng Xing is also an explorer of this track. He believes that AI service is an industry with creative rules, both emotion, beauty and imagination, "Even if it is virtual, who dares to say that it does not deserve to become the next 100 billion market?" ”
Turing said that he grew up in Hangzhou, and the company is in the office building of Xixi Bafang City in Hangzhou, which is also the Hangzhou base of ByteDance.
The founder of the brand, Meng Xing, is also a post-80s generation, and there are many of his "spiritual totems" hanging in his office - such as a replica of Curry's jersey and a somewhat cute kappa carpet.
Through this kappa carpet, a memory of the past shine is knocked open.
This good-looking man once had hundreds of thousands of fans in the COS circle, and received flowers and cakes every year on his birthday, and was known as the "troubadour" of the COS circle. Compared with "Meng Xingyi", he has a more resounding name - kappa.
Meng Xing's relationship with cosplay began with the stage play of the university club, and at first he was frequently exposed to script writing, dubbing, and makeup, and then he tried to take pictures of cosplay characters, which was discovered by "Manyou" magazine, signed a contract, and published a book. His Weibo will stop in 2021, but under the annual Weibo birthday reminder, the comment area still gathers the blessings of fans.
He has cosplayed many classic film and television roles, such as Kong Ji in "The King's Man", Kenshin Kakimura in "Rogue Kenshin", and Sesshomaru in "Inuyasha". In 2012, Meng Xing also appeared on the variety show "Everyday Upward" with the image of the crown prince of the Middle East in the cos "Phoenix in Nine Days", and the host Wang Han asked him if he could make money in this industry? He replied: "Yes, but don't think about buying a house or a car, you can only earn money to support the next work."
Cos work of Kappa.
Meng Xing, who struggled for his dream, also thought of using another way to monetize: a few years later, he turned around behind the scenes and started a two-dimensional e-commerce - a product that integrates two-dimensional product sales and community interaction, but in the end, he did not fight for large factories and capital, and was trapped in traffic; He also tried to make a Hanfu brand - Yuanji, which appeared on the stage of the ** Maker Festival.
In 2016, Meng Xing also joined an Internet giant company and led the two-dimensional industry. As one of the few performers, creators, and entrepreneurs in the industry, he understands the needs of practitioners better. In the six years he has been in Dachang, the most important thing he has done is to build a platform that aggregates original power of film and television, animation, game IP and player resources, and through the community interaction and communication between the two, users can customize and purchase related IP derivatives here.
At the selection site of the top ten shopkeepers in 2023, Meng Xing also endorsed Turing for the first time, and Turing said that it was only three months old at that time.
In recent years, many new stars have emerged in the artificial intelligence circle, the most well-known is the chatbot ChatGPT brought by OpenAI, and the changes of the times brought by AIGC have made more entrepreneurs shine.
Meng Xing also recalled that at the beginning of 2022, some ** generative apps appeared on the market, and he chose one to buy a lifetime membership. At that time, Meng Xing was also in contact with some design projects related to commercial brands, and wanted to draw concept drawings through AI, but found that the early model of the app was uncontrollable, and the finished product was far from meeting expectations, "My lifelong membership of more than 100 yuan 'blood loss', is a failed 'investment'." ”
One day, a friend approached Meng Xing and wanted to use the original ** to generate a two-dimensional picture, which inspired him: whether it is possible to draw different styles of avatars and photos through AI, such as Sankeng girls, makeup adults, and animation teenagers ......In short, so that people can find "another self" in the world through AI.
For opening a store to make virtual products, Meng Xing has also thought of countless possibilities, "Do text, audio** products? Or blockchain? Meng Xing, who has experience in e-commerce, is also clearly aware that he must focus on the early stage of entrepreneurship, so he cut off all kinds of fanciful ideas and focused on the best category.
ID photos and Hanfu photos are the hits that Turing said. At first, they used 0The attractive price of 01 yuan attracted the first batch of users to try it. Take AI Hanfu photo as an example, containing three sets of templates, Turing said that it is packaged with the concept of blind box, consumers only need to provide a frontal photo with clear facial features, and by embedding a small program with a background link, a set of Hanfu photos can be randomly generated in ten minutes. This has given many girls who have never experienced Hanfu dressing for the first time, and some users left a message: "It's so beautiful and beautiful." "This product is also a hit that Turing said at present, and it has sold tens of thousands of orders.
*In the class, Turing said that there are also products such as AI drawing Q version avatars, ID photos, etc. At the same time, they are also making efforts in AI voice customization, for example, they will train some voiceprint models of voices, "For example, we used the voice of actor Yang Chaoyue to build her own AI digital human, and users can use Yang Chaoyue's voice to customize a good morning bell and treat 'her' as your friend." ”
*In addition to audio, Turing also provides services related to the use of AI products. In Meng's words, Turing said that it provided basic AI services, but this was only their first step, "If you can survive, you will succeed." "In addition to its own stores, the team is also taking over some AI-related agency operations, such as Microsoft Xiaoice's agency operations.
During last year's Double 11, a new first-level category of "artificial intelligence services" was opened, and new "artificial intelligence services" options were added to the commodity category, including AI painting, AI ** generation, AI four-dimensional color ultrasound, AI voice package, etc.
As the first batch of AI merchants to eat crabs on **, Turing said that he felt the market of "rolling", "There are a lot of photos and photos, and they are all very good-looking, and the next thing is roll**." Now, the store has taken the basic ID photo and Hanfu photo business offline, and continues to run through a link: connecting AI B-end service companies and C-end consumers. According to reports, Turing said that the background applets of all products are provided by third parties, and the previous business of these third-party companies was mainly based on the B-side, and Turing said that it was intended to accelerate the AI service capabilities to fall to the C-side, becoming a "BD" that connects enterprises and consumers.
Immediately afterwards, Turing said that they would also start their ** entrepreneurship 20, that is, the combination of virtual and physical.
Based on this, Turing's post-00s team has brought more imaginative ideas, such as combining AIGC with traditional categories, "When users take AI Hanfu photos, they will pack a link to the same Hanfu, and they can first 'try on' through AI before buying." Before that, Turing said that he had tasted and verified this model, and the next thing they want to do is to amplify and combine with more categories to break the circle.
We will also open a Tmall store, put the products verified by the ** store into Tmall, and operate it with more commercial traffic. Meng Xing also said. The future is full of challenges and uncertainties, but Meng Xing also determined two points: first, the combination with the second dimension, which is what he is best at; Second, focus on female consumers.
In addition to Turing, there are also a large number of entrepreneurs who have tried AI. Previously, 36Kr opened an AI store called "Lu Mi Wei Lumiwink" in **, with the help of AI tools, they completed the construction of the store and the shelves of goods, sold more than 600 T-shirts in two months, and successfully entered the live broadcast room of TVB.
In the eyes of many people, the gross profit margin of virtual products is high, and Meng Xing does not deny this. He feels that the industry is indeed in the dividend period, with high profit margins and controllable costs, but he believes that at this stage, he still hopes to let more people experience services and use products, "* There is the largest stock of users, we hope to introduce more new customers, gross profit margins, profit margins, pricing ratios, is a means that we can use to give users marketing, profits, and welfare, but for the industry, I think it is the value to let the user experience up." ”
In the view of Xiaoer Meizhuang, the category of Taotian Group's digital life artificial intelligence services, "any emerging industry and emerging business model will always be accompanied by doubts at the beginning of its birth. It is precisely because Turing said that such a merchant is doing something that has no established answer and no path to follow, that the future is more expected.