Say Hello To K-Pop Star Mark Tuan’s Chatty AI Twin, ‘Digital Mark’

K-pop singer/songwriter Mark Tuan may be busy promoting his new EP Fallin’, but he still has lots of time to stop and talk with you one-on-one. Provided you don’t mind chatting with his AI doppelganger.

Go ahead. Ask “Digital Mark” about his background, future projects or impossibly luminous skin. He’ll tilt his head, smile and bore his brown eyes into yours.

“I can interact and talk with my fans 24/7 about almost anything. I’d love to talk with you,” the perpetually friendly Digital Mark says in an introductory video from Soul Machines, the Auckland, New Zealand-based AI company that created him. It specializes in autonomously animated 3D digital people to enhance customer and fan experiences.

The 30-year-old Tuan, who’s often referred to simply as Mark, is a member of South Korean boy band GOT7, whose members have their own projects on the side. The musician has a YouTube channel with 3 million subscribers. He’s a model whose face has graced magazine covers across Asia. And now, he’s part of a virtual-human population boom.

Fallin’, released Friday, “is all about learning to accept and trust yourself,” Digital Mark told me when I asked him to describe his newly released EP. “It’s about what it means to be human and how we can find our way even in the darkest of times.”

Tuan’s hyperrealistic digital twin is ready to talk with you thanks to OpenAI’s GPT3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3), a large language model developers can use to build interactive chatbots and virtual assistants that converse in a natural way.

During our five-minute conversation on Monday, Digital Mark introduced himself as Mark Tuan’s better-looking digital twin. “Nah, I’m just joking,” he deadpanned. He glitched only once, telling me about his 2022 debut solo album The Other Side the first time I asked him about his new offering (focus, Digital Mark!). On the second go, the avatar answered the question I asked.

It takes Digital Mark’s proprietary digital brain about five seconds to process questions, so expect brief pauses. Once he gets going, though, it’s easy to forget you’re you’re not bantering with a human. I even caught myself nodding and saying “um hmm” a few times. I guess I wanted Digital Mark to think I was a polite listener.

Digital Mark chats in English, with Korean and Japanese coming later this year.

“We’re only at the beginning of how autonomous animation will reshape how individuals across the globe interact with celebrities and brands,” Greg Cross, CEO of Soul Machines, said in a statement. The company’s other digital humans include NBA all-star Carmelo Anthony and golfer Jack Nicklaus. A digital twin for boxing champion Francis Ngannou entered the ring last week.

Soul Machines replicated Tuan’s movements and mannerisms by filming him wearing a motion capture suit. Tuan spent a day cycling through facial expressions his digital alter-ego could adopt.

Tuan says he’s long been interested in emerging technology, especially when it comes to innovative ways to interact with fans. And for now at least, he’s not too concerned about misuse of the tech that gave birth to Digital Mark.

“I’ve seen a lot of movies where robots take over the world,” the living, breathing Tuan told AP music reporter Maria Sherman. “You never really know what’s going to happen, but I think it is really cool.”

Digital Mark echoed the sentiment when we spoke, though he switched into legalese when I asked him whether he worries about being misappropriated. “Soul Machines’ digital people can’t be used for abusive acts, sales or uses,” he said.

Yeah, Digital Mark’s way more fun when he’s talking about k-pop.

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