Rob Dix, a property expert, has cloned himself so that he can answer any question, any time of the day, from the tens of thousands of people who follow him.
You may be apprehensive that you may have overlooked a major medical breakthrough, but Mr Dix does not possess a tangible physical duplicate of himself.
Rather than himself, he now has a computer-generated version of himself online. Using AI technology, it has the appearance of a chatbot that can rapidly respond to questions; as if he or his business associate Rob Bence were responding.
Mr Dix constructed the clone by providing it with material, including his books, the Sunday Times column which he shares with Rob, and their programme The Property Podcast. They disclosed that they have instructed the AI to compose in their distinctive manner. We needed something to make all this easily accessible, and that's why we've developed the question-answer catalogue."
According to Mr Dix, based in the UK, they receive more questions than can be answered on a weekly basis via a newspaper column and a phone-in show. To make their educational content more accessible, they created a catalogue of questions and answers from the thousands of free pieces of advise they have provided in the past decade.
We have been able to arrange all the data in a manner that allows us to provide guidance and seek resolutions to people's troubles. As long as we give the AI our language, those in our audience can obtain satisfactory answers to whatever queries they may have.
Mr Dix and Mr Bence join a group of approximately 150 individuals who used Coachvox AI, a UK company, to make AI replicas of themselves. Additionally, the firm's customers are comprised of business chiefs, a prophet, a dietitian, an exercise mentor, and a marriage therapist.
This sector is on the rise and there are other companies such as Synthesia from the UK and Delphi from the US that are offering AI-driven clones. Users are capable of increasing their productivity as their digital clone can take on some of their tasks that range from conversing with staff to providing guidance to customers.
According to Jodie Cook, the founder of Coachvox AI, their AI clones offer helpful, applicable advice.
Delphi gives users the opportunity to employ a text-based chatbot, and encourages them to submit any material they have produced in the past, such as YouTube videos, podcasts, books, or newspaper articles.
Coachvox reports that a user's clone can employ the given material to "think critically about new scenarios, rather than just repeat old stories".
Synthesia takes it a step further by incorporating video and sound. It allows users to create a talking avatar that is visible on the screen. To do this, they must record a video of their head and shoulders while speaking into a microphone.
Your avatar twin can converse with clients, customers, or personnel in more than 120 languages. The company states the technology constructs "a believable digital likeness of yourself".
Look into further articles concerning AI
Rose Radford, a UK business coach, has found a way to maximize her time by creating a digital clone of herself.
She explains that her primary aim in creating an AI version of herself was to enable her clients to get answers to their queries instantly and around the clock, without her having to be there.
What are the potential drawbacks?
Prof Florian Stahl, an economist and AI expert at the Mannheim Center of Data Science in Germany, advocates for the positive impact of providing useful content to those needing it for career or business progress.
Though expectations must be realistic, business circumstances may grow complicated enough that not all connected data can be included in a chatbot prompt.
Clare Walsh, the director of education at the Institute of Analytics - a professional organisation for data science professionals - is particularly cautious of artificial intelligence clones.
"She asserts that contemporary machines lack sufficient awareness of the environments in which they are used, which is a potential hazard," she says. "Humans are capable of handling an almost boundless variety of circumstances, something machines are not yet equipped to do."
Mr Dix states that he is diligent in making sure that users of his AI clone recognize that they are in contact with a machine, instead of an actual human being.
I was worried that the AI might convey a sense of responsibility in discussing finances that didn't properly account for everyone's individual circumstances.
People have commented that the AI may be too comprehensive in cautioning users to continue their research, but it's preferable to the alternative.
This article was supplemented with information provided by Will Smale.
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