4 ms·

This is going to change the world in a substantial way. Imagine when these characters become so lifelike that they are near indistinguishable from reality. Ima

This is going to change the world in a substantial way. Imagine when these characters become so lifelike that they are near indistinguishable from reality. Imagine when someone gives them a voice and personality, and you can speak with them. Imagine then that they star in their own movies, and some of the personality traits you've helped shaped or bared witness to emerge in those movies. The connection you will feel. Today celebrities are inherently limited by their own bandwidth. These people will have near unlimited bandwidth. Everyone can talk with them. I'm thinking of the movie Her. This is really interesting! Edit: This made me think; The Sims in year 2050, might be immoral; almost Truman Show-esque.

Cactus2018 9y ago
Made me think of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_(2002_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_(2002_film)
- ambicapter 9y ago
  Wow can't believe this didn't make waves, this is exactly up my alley.
Cthulhu_ 9y ago
You're saying it like it hasn't already happened. Most models already are carefully crafted images, with a lot of post-processing happening so what you end up seeing is more of an art piece inspired by the model than the person behind it. Un-lifelike famous characters are already very much a thing, especially in e.g. japan where there's characters appearing everywhere.
- matte_black 9y ago
  You misunderstand the point of models. A model's photoshoot is rarely about the model, or the "person behind it". It is an art piece. It is not meant to be a candid photo like what you throw up on your social media. Often models are just for the purpose of branding, to convey a lifestyle or value, or to get likes.
  - mercer 9y ago
    It gets a little blurrier with pop stars though. How much of what we think we know as Katie Perry or Rihanna is really them? How many of the 'authentic' bursts of personality are real, and how many are artificial? And to what degree might they themselves not be able to tell the difference even? While I personally am not a fan of this kind of artificiality, I'm also not saying it's something to be outraged about. I find it fascinating, more than anything.
    - lbotos 9y ago
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf4VQcmxGp8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf4VQcmxGp8 <- A recap of Katy Perry's live stream from her "witness" house experience. "‘I created this character called Katy Perry. I didn’t want to be Katheryn Hudson. It was too scary’" - https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jun/11/katy-perry-interview-witness-album-glastonbury https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jun/11/katy-perry-int... Was just interesting in the light of choosing Katy as an example.
      - mercer 9y ago
        Ha, yeah. I'm cynical enough about it all at this point that I think this might very well be part of a carefully crafted 'development', perhaps partly to let her not go crazy, and partly for a new 'phase' of commercial viability. She might not be 100% in on the joke even.
  - Retra 9y ago
    That's the problem though. Models are people just as much as you or I, or actors. You can justify manipulating anybody for a singular purpose in that way. "My job is to make my company money, so I have to act exactly like they want me to. Soon I will have to look how they want me to. Say what they want me to. Be who they want me to be. To convey a specific message that is not my own." At the end of the day, the fake person has more power than the real one, because it is backed by corporate interests.
matte_black 9y ago
I doubt it. Characters don't need to be lifelike and indistinguishable from reality to be huge celebrities as is. Animated cartoon characters can already do everything you just said, and are sometimes even more popular than humans. There is no reason to believe a character indistinguishable from a real human would be capable of achieving more popularity than a similar human.
- chrisvalleybay 9y ago
  Regarding your last paragraph, I’d still say there would be an inherent difference considering a single human being can’t speak / connect with everyone on earth. This limits the connection you feel. If you feel like things you’ve said to the digital person reflect in their personality, I believe you will feel connected to a much larger degree. If you’ve seen the movie Her, that’s sort of what I’m thinking about.
keiferski 9y ago
This is the plot of Simone (2001.) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_(2002_film) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_(2002_film)
jcfrei 9y ago
Your best friend in 2050 most likely won't be human at all.
- gaius 9y ago
  Already isn’t - she’s a cat :-)
Tossrock 9y ago
For those who missed it, at GDC 2018 there was a demo of real-time, nearly photo-realistic virtual human synthesis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9owTAISsvwk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9owTAISsvwk And behind the scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW6mYurjYZ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW6mYurjYZ0 Still a little on the wrong side of the uncanny valley, imo, but for a real-time demo it was extremely impressive.

Cactus2018 9y ago

Made me think of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_(2002_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_(2002_film)

ambicapter 9y ago
Wow can't believe this didn't make waves, this is exactly up my alley.

Cthulhu_ 9y ago

You're saying it like it hasn't already happened. Most models already are carefully crafted images, with a lot of post-processing happening so what you end up seeing is more of an art piece inspired by the model than the person behind it. Un-lifelike famous characters are already very much a thing, especially in e.g. japan where there's characters appearing everywhere.

matte_black 9y ago
You misunderstand the point of models. A model's photoshoot is rarely about the model, or the "person behind it". It is an art piece. It is not meant to be a candid photo like what you throw up on your social media. Often models are just for the purpose of branding, to convey a lifestyle or value, or to get likes.
- mercer 9y ago
  It gets a little blurrier with pop stars though. How much of what we think we know as Katie Perry or Rihanna is really them? How many of the 'authentic' bursts of personality are real, and how many are artificial? And to what degree might they themselves not be able to tell the difference even? While I personally am not a fan of this kind of artificiality, I'm also not saying it's something to be outraged about. I find it fascinating, more than anything.
  - lbotos 9y ago
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf4VQcmxGp8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf4VQcmxGp8 <- A recap of Katy Perry's live stream from her "witness" house experience. "‘I created this character called Katy Perry. I didn’t want to be Katheryn Hudson. It was too scary’" - https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jun/11/katy-perry-interview-witness-album-glastonbury https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jun/11/katy-perry-int... Was just interesting in the light of choosing Katy as an example.
    - mercer 9y ago
      Ha, yeah. I'm cynical enough about it all at this point that I think this might very well be part of a carefully crafted 'development', perhaps partly to let her not go crazy, and partly for a new 'phase' of commercial viability. She might not be 100% in on the joke even.
- Retra 9y ago
  That's the problem though. Models are people just as much as you or I, or actors. You can justify manipulating anybody for a singular purpose in that way. "My job is to make my company money, so I have to act exactly like they want me to. Soon I will have to look how they want me to. Say what they want me to. Be who they want me to be. To convey a specific message that is not my own." At the end of the day, the fake person has more power than the real one, because it is backed by corporate interests.

matte_black 9y ago

I doubt it. Characters don't need to be lifelike and indistinguishable from reality to be huge celebrities as is. Animated cartoon characters can already do everything you just said, and are sometimes even more popular than humans. There is no reason to believe a character indistinguishable from a real human would be capable of achieving more popularity than a similar human.

chrisvalleybay 9y ago
Regarding your last paragraph, I’d still say there would be an inherent difference considering a single human being can’t speak / connect with everyone on earth. This limits the connection you feel. If you feel like things you’ve said to the digital person reflect in their personality, I believe you will feel connected to a much larger degree. If you’ve seen the movie Her, that’s sort of what I’m thinking about.

keiferski 9y ago

This is the plot of Simone (2001.) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_(2002_film) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_(2002_film)

jcfrei 9y ago

Your best friend in 2050 most likely won't be human at all.

gaius 9y ago
Already isn’t - she’s a cat :-)

Tossrock 9y ago

For those who missed it, at GDC 2018 there was a demo of real-time, nearly photo-realistic virtual human synthesis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9owTAISsvwk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9owTAISsvwk And behind the scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW6mYurjYZ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW6mYurjYZ0 Still a little on the wrong side of the uncanny valley, imo, but for a real-time demo it was extremely impressive.