Latest news with #HassaanRaza
Forbes
21-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Navigating The New World Of AI Representation
Hassaan Raza, Cofounder & CEO, Tavus. Recently, a 'person' addressing a New York appellate court captured a lot of attention—not based on what they said, but because they were not actually a live person at all. The online testimony was delivered by an AI-generated human representative. This wasn't just some bizarre legal maneuver; it was a glimpse into the future. Plaintiff Jerome Dewald didn't have a lawyer, so he turned to AI and created someone who could be more articulate than he believed himself to be (for disclosure, he used an early version of my company's technology, which we learned through the media). Dewald's use case highlights some interesting points: People's comfort level with AI is clearly increasing; AI has become more advanced, with new conversational qualities; and AI has the potential to be an equalizer, giving everyday people 24/7 access to the help they need but couldn't receive otherwise. The incident represents a pivotal moment. Generative AI is transitioning from something entertaining to a tool that could fundamentally change how humans interact with complex systems. Not Another Demo Although AI-generated 'people' aren't new—we've seen deepfakes, digital influencers and synthetic media for years—the quality has improved exponentially. I'm not just talking about how they look and speak; I'm talking about how they think, reason, feel and respond to information. Simply put, AI humans are growing a central nervous system, enabling them to be used in even the most formal settings, like a New York courtroom, where authenticity is paramount. Dewald's reasoning for using an early version of this technology was surprisingly practical. He wasn't trying to deceive. Rather, he wanted to offer a more polished version of his arguments without his "usual mumbling, stumbling and tripping over words" and to avoid speaking for an extended period, which has been difficult for him after battling throat cancer. He wanted to deliver the best possible version of himself. AI-generated humans are moving from theoretical to practical. Users are finding innovative applications without waiting for formal frameworks or permissions, and I believe that type of experimentation will increase as AI agents become more advanced. Dewald's digital proxy was used in a pre-recorded presentation, but new interfaces can simulate and initiate true interactions. They're no longer mere "talking heads" reading scripts or 'dumb' avatars. Instead, they interpret information at a deep level and respond in real-time with stunning emotional intelligence, opening the door to a wide range of use cases. For example, AI interviewers can scale preliminary candidate screenings while providing a more engaging experience. Mortgage brokers are deploying AI representatives to explain complex loan options to clients, and they are available 24/7 without the pressure of sales quotas. Medical practices can also implement AI intake personnel to gather patient information, potentially reducing wait times and administrative burden on healthcare providers. Additional business applications may increase engagement and customer satisfaction by creating a new level of connection, not to mention the emotional, behavioral and contextual insights that AI humans can collect to help unlock better decisions, personalization and product tuning. But new applications aren't just about efficiency and insights; they're about accessibility. When implemented thoughtfully, AI humans can also democratize access to services previously limited by cost, geography or availability—and this is just the beginning. I believe we'll soon see AI video equipped with a humanlike face, voice and brain increasingly leveraged in specialized, highly regulated domains, including: • Therapeutic Support: While not replacing licensed therapists, AI therapists could provide consistent emotional support and check-ins for those with limited access to mental health resources. • Legal Guidance: AI representatives could help explain legal documents, guide people through standard processes and potentially assist with court proceedings (when properly disclosed in advance). • Sales And Training: AI humans can help with everything from higher-level engagement and understanding to greater conversion and NPS scores through personalized journeys and experiences. By removing the constraints of human availability and cost barriers, responsibly deployed AI humans could be transformative for millions of people and businesses around the world. It May Be Inevitable, But It's Not Perfect As next-level AI video agents become more realistic, and thus more widely used, transparency will be imperative. Watermarking and design choices when creating a digital proxy can make it clear that the person you are interacting with is AI-generated. For example, when you ask one of our representatives who they are, they are hard-wired to disclose if they are AI. Privacy protections must also be implemented. Users should not be allowed to clone others without consent. However, stock replicas can allow people to build their ideal character (i.e., a butler persona could be created to serve as an assistant). Safeguards can be applied to ensure the integrity of the representation. My company, for example, uses voice ID and multistep verification to ensure only a user can create a replica of themselves. Additionally, the most effective AI implementations should have technical guardrails enabled and maintain human review of critical decisions. This is necessary, especially when intangibles like emotions, experiences and values are involved. AI humans should be used to handle and scale routine interactions while escalating, flagging or summarizing specific, more complex situations for live experts to take over. Expect new regulations as well. Thoughtful regulation is not a bad thing. It can ensure that guardrails are equally applied while adding legitimacy to generative AI applications. Innovators need to be a part of the conversations that shape not only the regulatory landscape, but also the culture around AI—because we're often the first to see both the potential and the risks. Moving Forward Every day, people are pushing AI's boundaries faster than institutions can adapt. Rather than fight innovation, let's channel it with flexible frameworks that protect core values while allowing beneficial applications to flourish. Businesses need to invest in both technological capabilities and safeguards, while policymakers must develop guidelines that protect against misuse, encourage innovation and expand access. For the rest of us, let's accept that AI personas may eventually be a part of our lives and use them to our advantage. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Business Wire
25-04-2025
- Business Wire
AI Research Company Tavus Debuts Hummingbird-0, Ushering in a New Era of Zero-Shot Lip Sync
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tavus, a leading AI video research company backed by Sequoia, today announced the release of Hummingbird-0 into research preview, a zero-shot lip sync model created from components of its flagship Phoenix-3 replica model. Now, with just one video and any voice track, developers can bring faces to life—instantly—without model training or manual tweaking. This step up in quality opens the door to high-quality user-generated content, foreign language dubbing for localization, and personalized videos created at scale, in minutes. Once developers get a taste of Hummingbird-0, they want to know more about what our entire family of models can do. Hummingbird-0 barely scratches the surface of our capabilities as we continue developing the human layer of AI. -- Hassaan Raza, Tavus CEO Share 'Lip sync technology has been around for years, but until now, it's never really been great — open source or otherwise,' said Effie Goenawan, Head of Product at Tavus. 'With Hummingbird-0, we're giving developers access to a state-of-the-art lip sync model that unlocks an entirely new level of creative potential. It actually emerged as a happy accident while we were developing our full-face replica rendering model, Phoenix-3, and it's a testament to the brilliance and curiosity of our research team.' Helping Content Creation Take Flight The Hummingbird model is designed to modify the lip movements in a given video to match the content of a driving audio signal. The guiding principle is to preserve the original identity, expressions, and visual quality of the person in the video while synchronizing their lip movements with the new audio. Notably, with Hummingbird-0, users can create content much faster because they don't have to train a model. All that's needed is a video of a person speaking–one already in existence or one created using a video generator like Veo or Kling. From making memes talk to instantly localizing thousands of B2B videos, Hummingbird-0 puts high-quality lip sync just an API call away. 'Text-to-video generation models have become enormously popular for content creation, but there is a problem in that the video is muted; there's no voice,' said Hassaan Raza, CEO of Tavus. 'We are adding that voice that can go on top of any video where there is a human. This serves as an enabler not just for more, different, or better content, but for new types of products and experiences altogether. Once developers get a taste of Hummingbird-0, they want to know more about what our entire family of models can do. Hummingbird-0 barely scratches the surface of our capabilities as we continue developing the human layer of AI.' Hummingbird-0 specifically gives developers the tools to overcome challenges associated with video content creation. For example, it offers: Scalable Personalization: Transform a single source video into thousands of personalized versions with different audio tracks, dramatically reducing production costs for marketing, educational, and localized content. Editing Video Dialogue in Post: Build editing workflows into any video app. Users can update or adapt existing footage of dialogue using text or audio—no reshoots, no heavy post-production. Integrate with Video Generation: Build an AI film studio. Add dialogue, the missing puzzle piece to videos generated by Sora, Veo, Runway, Kling, and more. Efficient Content Repurposing: Leverage existing footage to generate new videos with updated messaging or corrections without costly reshoots or complex post-production workflows. Unparalleled Performance Hummingbird-0 is already demonstrating best-in-class performance in visual quality, lip sync accuracy, and identity preservation— outperforming all other lip sync models on the market. Because it was built using Phoenix-3 components, Hummingbird-0 yields state-of-the-art results. Tavus tested Hummingbird-0 against industry-leading zero-shot lip sync solutions, displaying: Superior Visual Quality: FID score of 63.92 (37% better than closest competitor) Strong Lip Synchronization: LSE-D score of 6.74 (7% better than closest competitor) Exceptional Identity Preservation: Arcface score of 0.84 (7% better than closest competitor). 'The Tavus team was able to take an existing product and transform it into a complementary solution. By being nimble, knowledgeable, and committed to pushing the envelope through research, Tavus now enables developers to quickly and easily add native-quality voice to any video, unlocking limitless video editing possibilities,' added Goenawan. Learn more about how Hummingbird-0 works here and find Hummingbird-0 on Tavus or FAL today. About Tavus Tavus is a market-leading generative AI video research company building foundational models and operating systems for human-AI interaction. Inspired by the human brain, Tavus' cognitive architecture enables developers to build hyper-realistic AI video agents that see, listen, and respond, bringing the human touch to digital experiences at scale. Its AI models and APIs power virtual humans for real-time conversations and lifelike video generation, transforming industries like education, healthcare, recruiting, marketing, sales, financial services, and more. Tavus' technology is used by Fortune 500 companies and innovative startups alike to create AI-driven experiences that feel truly engaging and interactive. Headquartered in San Francisco, Tavus is backed by Sequoia Capital, Scale Venture Partners, Y Combinator, HubSpot, and other leading investors.
