I game, and one of the most annoying things about an RPG (Role Playing Game) is that the NPCs (Non-Player Characters) are on set scripts. This means that every time you do the same mission, the NPCs say and do the exact same things and clearly don’t feel real which breaks the immersion experience of the game.
There is a similar problem with the old IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems. When you called with a problem and needed help, you had to learn the right command sequence in order to proceed. This caused a lot of us to try various creative ways, at which we still often fail, to get through to a human so we can actually get our problem solved rather than spending hours in some kind of vocal maze.
At the outset of CES this year NVIDIA announced an offering called NVIDIA ACE that could address both problems. In games, it creates dynamic NPCs who respond to your natural language queries and vary their responses and actions based on the conditions of the engagement rather than a fixed script, and the potential for dynamic agents that could interact with you more like people do.
Let’s explore what a potential game changer NVIDIA ACE is this week.
Is it Human or Is it an AI?
Ideally, as AIs advance, we are working toward a period where it will be impossible to distinguish between an AI and a person both digitally and, with robotics, in person. Interestingly NVIDIA is engaged in both avatars and robotics, so the underlying personality technology has broad implications for both physical and electronic interactions.
This has a wide variety of implementations, including customer interfaces, NPCs, robots (including autonomous vehicles), and digital assistants. The result would be a new way of interacting with a wide variety of electronic devices and services. With each able to learn what makes you unique in order to interact with you more effectively. This means that company interactions and avatar-based entertainment interactions would be customized to you and designed to either get you to do something, or to have a more realistic experience. These two elements aren’t mutually exclusive. There could be commerce elements more effectively built into games through the avatars, and company interactions with avatar representatives could have significant engagement aspects designed to create deeper loyalty with the company and more effectively close business based on your unique triggers.
While initially the interactions seem a little stilted, they are still far better than the interactions with scripts, and they are more dynamic. But recognize that generative AI is advancing fast. Over time, AI will become ever more realistic. We are just at the start of this latest AI wave. In a few short years, we may be unable to tell the difference between one of these NVIDIA ACE avatars and a real person.
Other Experiences
One of the things I’ve been looking forward to is having a digital twin that can attend meetings in my stead or even play with me or friends when I need help in a game or when I’m not available for a group gaming event. I find it extremely compelling that a personal digital twin could replace my voicemail, do much of my casual email interaction, and substitute for me when I’m otherwise engaged (or just need a nap).
I can also think of parents who might want to create a digital twin of themselves both to help their children when they aren’t available, or to engage with their kids should they die prematurely. And I have no doubt kids would benefit from parental guidance in their later years when they are more willing to listen to it.
This is also a frequent problem for kids that didn’t appreciate their parents when they were young and their parents were willing to help, only to find they wish they had that guidance when they are older and their parents are gone. This technology could address that need as well and eventually provide a bridge between the current generation and the ones that preceded it to provide a much surer way of carrying knowledge and best practices forward over the generations.
Wrapping Up: NVIDIA ACE. Our Avatar Future
NVIDIA ACE represents the major potential to create human digital twins to perform duties from in-game NPCs, to digital assistants, and even digital twins that can enrich our experiences, allow us to be in more places at once, and allow us to engage with people who aren’t available anymore.
This is just one of the major AI changes we’ll be facing this year. We do need to be concerned about people misusing this technology in order to trick us, but as this technology matures, it has the potential to improve much of our life and give us the opportunity to interact with those who have passed away and to continue to help the world even after we have passed away, as well.
That’s big.
