AI-powered metahumans driving Indonesia's digital transformation
Indonesia is already a leader in digital adoption, but a bunch of companies in the Southeast Asian nation are rapidly deploying a new ally--the metahuman--as they try to reach out to their audiences and customers.
Experts believe the attention AI and metahumans are gaining in the wider marketing sector could pave the way for expanding digital literacy and digital adoption across the country.
In Indonesia's National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence for 2020-2045, the government identified talent development and industrial research and innovation as two of the four key focus areas. In line with the government's AI push, innovations such as AI-infused metahumans--computer-generated avatars designed to exist in virtual reality--have been given roles in several industries, and they are taking the influencer marketing space by storm.
There are various possibilities for Indonesian businesses in terms of metahuman integration, as showcased by Jakarta-based metahuman creator Genexyz, which created Laverda Salsabila, dubbed the world's first virtual endorser with real-life deals.
The company has partnered with some of the biggest Indonesian brands for metahuman influencers, including Tokopedia, Pepsodent and Ismaya Group. Earlier this month, it secured $1 million in seed funding from investors, including East Ventures.
In the private sector, some news and entertainment segments have already shown how metahumans can be incorporated into regular operations. For instance, tvOne unveiled digital news anchor Nadira and another metahuman earlier this year. Nadira is based on the mainstream network's real-life news anchor Fahada Indi.
Another virtual avatar, Kiki, was developed by Media.Monks' Jam3 and Japanese public broadcaster NHK Enterprises. Kiki, which was designed to serve the country's deaf community, generates full Japanese Sign Language dynamic interpretations from text input.
A metahuman 'immensely expands the possibilities for creators, but also for brands to personify themselves (or the brand) in new worlds and on new platforms, which they normally wouldn't be active on,' Funs Jacobs, senior director of innovation at marketing and advertising company Media.Monks, told International Business Times.
Integrating AI with digital avatars brings metahumans to life, especially if a digital avatar is well-trained by hours of a creator's own content, he said. Furthermore, generative AI integration can allow for 'hyper-personalization' of a metahuman that can interact with a creator's community.
An example of a hyper-personalized experience with AI and metahumans is singer The Weeknd's 'Alone With Me' project in 2020. A lifelike version of the singer greets fans using Spotify accounts at the immersive microsite. The Weekend's virtual counterpart was able to send thousands of personalized videos to fans within hours. The experience demonstrates how AI-infused metahumans are 'democratizing creativity,' Jacobs said.
Influencers and content creators have had challenges related to multitasking, such as going live on multiple platforms and responding to live chats. With an AI-powered metahuman, influencers can get some of the pressure off.
Jacobs said he sees a future world where consumers and brands will have a lot of interactions with AI-fueled metahumans instead of with chatbots, automated helpdesks and FAQs that 'never work as you like them to.' Outside its role of improving influencers' efficiency, metahumans may also play a major role in bridging the gap of digital literacy between large corporations and smaller businesses in Indonesia, Kartina Sury, strategic marketing expert and senior fellow at think tank the Center of Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) said.
'The more important use of metahumans in this early time is to drive digital literacy for better business results at the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) level,' she said.
While it is fascinating to see the vast growth of Indonesia's digital space as propelled by the pandemic, Sury noted that digital adoption levels still vary across huge corporations and MSMEs. Metahuman integration into businesses, especially in the services sector, may help improve digital literacy among smaller players in various industries and encourage further digital adoption.
Despite promising possibilities, there are concerns about AI and metahumans possibly replacing real human jobs. To offset the potential threat to human jobs, employers should invest in training workers to be knowledgeable in using the technology, Sury said.
On the part of workers, it's crucial to 'empower' oneself by being open to tech developments that could help enhance efficiency and save time on tasks that can otherwise be automated, Jacobs said.
Indonesia still has digital literacy hurdles to overcome before it can fully adopt high technology such as AI and metahumans, but a 2018 study by Forrester Consulting on behalf of AI software company Appier found that Indonesia leads the Asia Pacific in AI implementation. Indonesia's AI adoption is propelled by the country's booming digital economy and expansive internet
penetration.
Last month, experts said that Indonesia has the 'most potential' in the ASEAN region's digital economy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Qatar Tribune
21 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
China summons Nvidia over ‘serious security issues' with AI chips
Agencies Chinese authorities summoned Nvidia representatives on Thursday to discuss 'serious security issues' over some of its artificial intelligence chips, as the US tech giant finds itself entangled in trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Nvidia is a world-leading producer of AI semiconductors, but the United States effectively restricts which chips it can export to China on national security grounds. A key issue has been Chinese access to the 'H20', a less powerful version of Nvidia's AI processing units that the company developed specifically for export to China. The California-based firm said this month it would resume H20 sales to China after Washington pledged to remove licensing curbs that had halted exports. But the firm still faces obstacles—US lawmakers have proposed plans to require Nvidia and other manufacturers of advanced AI chips to include built-in location tracking capabilities. And Beijing's top internet regulator said Thursday it had summoned Nvidia representatives to discuss recently discovered 'serious security issues' involving the H20. The Cyberspace Administration of China said it had asked Nvidia to 'explain the security risks of vulnerabilities and backdoors in its H20 chips sold to China and submit relevant supporting materials'. The statement posted on social media noted that, according to US experts, location tracking and remote shutdown technologies for Nvidia chips 'are already matured'. The announcement marked the latest complication for Nvidia in selling its advanced products in the key Chinese market, where it is in increasingly fierce competition with homegrown technology firms. CEO Jensen Huang said during a closely watched visit to Beijing this month that his firm remained committed to serving local customers. Huang said he had been assured during talks with top Chinese officials during the trip that the country was 'open and stable'. 'They want to know that Nvidia continues to invest here, that we are still doing our best to serve the market here,' he said. Nvidia this month became the first company to hit $4 trillion in market value—a new milestone in Wall Street's bet that AI will transform the global economy. Jost Wubbeke of the Sinolytics consultancy told AFP the move by China to summon Nvidia was 'not surprising in the sense that targeting individual US companies has become a common tool in the context of US-China tensions'. 'What is surprising, however, is the timing,' he noted, after the two countries agreed to further talks to extend their trade truce. 'China's action may signal a shift toward a more assertive stance,' Wubbeke said. Beijing is also aiming to reduce reliance on foreign tech by promoting Huawei's domestically developed 910C chip as an alternative to the H20, he added. 'From that perspective, the US decision to allow renewed exports of the H20 to China could be seen as counterproductive, as it might tempt Chinese hyperscalers to revert to the H20, potentially undermining momentum behind the 910C and other domestic alternatives.' New hurdles to Nvidia's operation in China come as the country's economy wavers, beset by a years-long property sector crisis and heightened trade headwinds under US President Donald Trump. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the country to enhance self-reliance in certain areas deemed vital for national security—including AI and semiconductors—as tensions with Washington mount.
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
AI-powered metahumans driving Indonesia's digital transformation
Agencies Indonesia is already a leader in digital adoption, but a bunch of companies in the Southeast Asian nation are rapidly deploying a new ally--the metahuman--as they try to reach out to their audiences and customers. Experts believe the attention AI and metahumans are gaining in the wider marketing sector could pave the way for expanding digital literacy and digital adoption across the country. In Indonesia's National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence for 2020-2045, the government identified talent development and industrial research and innovation as two of the four key focus areas. In line with the government's AI push, innovations such as AI-infused metahumans--computer-generated avatars designed to exist in virtual reality--have been given roles in several industries, and they are taking the influencer marketing space by storm. There are various possibilities for Indonesian businesses in terms of metahuman integration, as showcased by Jakarta-based metahuman creator Genexyz, which created Laverda Salsabila, dubbed the world's first virtual endorser with real-life deals. The company has partnered with some of the biggest Indonesian brands for metahuman influencers, including Tokopedia, Pepsodent and Ismaya Group. Earlier this month, it secured $1 million in seed funding from investors, including East Ventures. In the private sector, some news and entertainment segments have already shown how metahumans can be incorporated into regular operations. For instance, tvOne unveiled digital news anchor Nadira and another metahuman earlier this year. Nadira is based on the mainstream network's real-life news anchor Fahada Indi. Another virtual avatar, Kiki, was developed by Jam3 and Japanese public broadcaster NHK Enterprises. Kiki, which was designed to serve the country's deaf community, generates full Japanese Sign Language dynamic interpretations from text input. A metahuman 'immensely expands the possibilities for creators, but also for brands to personify themselves (or the brand) in new worlds and on new platforms, which they normally wouldn't be active on,' Funs Jacobs, senior director of innovation at marketing and advertising company told International Business Times. Integrating AI with digital avatars brings metahumans to life, especially if a digital avatar is well-trained by hours of a creator's own content, he said. Furthermore, generative AI integration can allow for 'hyper-personalization' of a metahuman that can interact with a creator's community. An example of a hyper-personalized experience with AI and metahumans is singer The Weeknd's 'Alone With Me' project in 2020. A lifelike version of the singer greets fans using Spotify accounts at the immersive microsite. The Weekend's virtual counterpart was able to send thousands of personalized videos to fans within hours. The experience demonstrates how AI-infused metahumans are 'democratizing creativity,' Jacobs said. Influencers and content creators have had challenges related to multitasking, such as going live on multiple platforms and responding to live chats. With an AI-powered metahuman, influencers can get some of the pressure off. Jacobs said he sees a future world where consumers and brands will have a lot of interactions with AI-fueled metahumans instead of with chatbots, automated helpdesks and FAQs that 'never work as you like them to.' Outside its role of improving influencers' efficiency, metahumans may also play a major role in bridging the gap of digital literacy between large corporations and smaller businesses in Indonesia, Kartina Sury, strategic marketing expert and senior fellow at think tank the Center of Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) said. 'The more important use of metahumans in this early time is to drive digital literacy for better business results at the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) level,' she said. While it is fascinating to see the vast growth of Indonesia's digital space as propelled by the pandemic, Sury noted that digital adoption levels still vary across huge corporations and MSMEs. Metahuman integration into businesses, especially in the services sector, may help improve digital literacy among smaller players in various industries and encourage further digital adoption. Despite promising possibilities, there are concerns about AI and metahumans possibly replacing real human jobs. To offset the potential threat to human jobs, employers should invest in training workers to be knowledgeable in using the technology, Sury said. On the part of workers, it's crucial to 'empower' oneself by being open to tech developments that could help enhance efficiency and save time on tasks that can otherwise be automated, Jacobs said. Indonesia still has digital literacy hurdles to overcome before it can fully adopt high technology such as AI and metahumans, but a 2018 study by Forrester Consulting on behalf of AI software company Appier found that Indonesia leads the Asia Pacific in AI implementation. Indonesia's AI adoption is propelled by the country's booming digital economy and expansive internet penetration. Last month, experts said that Indonesia has the 'most potential' in the ASEAN region's digital economy.
Qatar Tribune
3 days ago
- Qatar Tribune
Laos braced for blow of Donald Trump tariff threat
Agencies Hawking clothes outside the garment factory where her daughter toils inside, a Laos vendor weighs US President Donald Trump's threat of trade tariffs that may soon snarl both their livelihoods. 'I just live day by day. For now, I still have my business, and the factory is operating as usual,' she told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity in the capital Vientiane. 'I'm not too worried about my daughter's job yet,' she added. Then again, she says: 'I don't know anything about what the US will decide.' Landlocked Laos -- a country of only eight million -- has a gloomy outlook as it counts down to a Friday deadline when Trump says a 40 per cent levy will kick in unless a trade deal is sealed. The rate is among the highest Trump has touted in his global tariff blitz, which has yielded a handful of deals with countries including Britain, Japan and Vietnam but left dozens others scrambling for a pact. Laos has limited exports, little leverage and supply chains deeply entwined with US trade rival China. The United States had a trade deficit of more than $760 million with Laos last year -- singling it out for steep tolls alongside other nations Trump sees as imbalanced business partners. 'A 40 percent tariff is just a nail in the coffin for any industry trying to ship to the United States,' said John F. Somers, head of garment manufacturing firm Diep Vu Co. Only a handful of factories, mostly in the capital, supply the US market and sales make up only between three and six percent of the country's gross domestic product. But with the Southeast Asian country already suffering from high inflation and a severe labour shortage, Trump's default tariff could still have a devastating effect, industry insiders say. 'We estimate about 20,000 workers or more could be impacted,' said Xaybandith Rasphone, head of the Association of the Lao Garment Industry. 'We're not certain about the exact number yet, but it could easily be higher if companies shut down,' said Xaybandith, who is also vice-president of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI). He warned between 35 and 40 factories could be affected if buyers are spooked by the tariffs. 'If the tariff stays in place, some factories will definitely close,' he said. 'Finding alternative markets takes time, negotiations and a lot of effort. It could take years.' Like neighbouring Cambodia and Vietnam, Laos is a hub of the garment industry -- producing brands for western markets including Dr. Martens. But the production of mattresses, silicone products and solar panels also stands to be impacted. Solar panel manufacturing has exploded in Laos since 2023 and driven up its export figures after Trump hit China with a 50 percent tariff on the renewable power sources. However the US trade offensive has focussed on 'transshipment' -- a practice it alleges some countries use to help China dodge American tariffs by repackaging its goods for American markets. Casey Tolzman, head of the Lao-American Business Association (LABA), said the explosion of Laos' solar industry had likely been 'a cause for suspicion' in Washington. Rules governing the source of materials and the level of Laotian labour required to define products as domestically produced may prove the country's biggest bargaining chip. 'A big question for countries like Cambodia and Laos is what they can offer the US that's attractive enough to reach a deal,' Tolzman said. 'Any deal would probably need to see Laos enforce stricter rules on transshipment and country of origin, to ensure products aren't just coming from China and getting a Laos label slapped on.' The US may also ask Vientiane to crack down on internet scam centres targeting wealthy Americans from compounds in Laos, or seek concessions for American goods to enter the market, he added. The LABA and LNCCI say they are helping the government draft an appeal asking for tariffs to drop back to previous levels, or at least be capped at 20 percent. But Diep Vu Co boss Somers warns even if Laos manages to reach a deal with Washington, a bigger test soon lies is on track to graduate from 'Least Developed Country' status next year, meaning it is set to lose duty-free access to the European Union -- dealing another blow. 'We'll be at a competitive disadvantage, our industry will probably collapse within a few years,' Somers warned.
