3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
He Sold His Likeness. Now His Avatar Is Shilling Supplements on TikTok.
Scott Jacqmein, a 52-year-old actor in Dallas, fields one or two texts a week from acquaintances and friends who are pretty sure they have seen him pitching a peculiar range of businesses on TikTok. There was an insurance-quote marketplace, a daily horoscope app, and a puzzle and brain teaser app, the last of which featured him speaking fluent Spanish.
But the ads seem a little off to them. Mr. Jacqmein doesn't speak Spanish, he's missing his trademark facial hair, and the voice and gestures appear somewhat stilted.
As it turns out, he didn't actually perform in any of the videos.
Instead, the ads were made using his 'digital avatar,' fueled by artificial intelligence, after he licensed his likeness to TikTok last year. Now, a version of Mr. Jacqmein is out on the internet, peddling whatever an advertiser might want him to sell as long as it complies with TikTok's marketing guidelines.
It's what Mr. Jacqmein signed up for, but now that he has seen his avatar out in the wild, he has regrets.
'I'm definitely not anti-A.I., and I'm not anti-TikTok,' Mr. Jacqmein said in an interview, explaining that he had been trying to build his career and thought that working with such a big platform might help. But 'you really don't know the ramifications of this,' he said.
transcript
'I will cancel any home insurance and use SAFEU instead because it is cheaper.' [in Spanish] 'Knowing your birth date's meaning can help you understand yourself better.'
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
