On the days leading to its unveiling, media outlets and Samsung's fans made a few interesting out-of-this-world speculations about Neon, a mysterious "digital human" project of the tech giant's subsidiary. Some described it as a "digital avatar technology" and "a realistic CGI human that users can interact with," while others speculated that this futuristic-looking project could be an "artificial intelligence that will make you wonder which one of you is real."
But when Neon was finally presented to the public for the first time at CES 2020, all those assumptions seemed too far-fetched. Apparently, the project which Samsung Technology and Advanced Research Labs (a.k.a. STAR Labs) have been waiting to reveal is merely a chatbot.
Samsung's Neon AI Chatbot: The Artificial Human
So, Samsung's AI chatbot looks like a real human. But what can it do? In essence, Neon is an AI-enabled video chatbot that looks and acts like the rest of us. STAR Labs described the technology as "a computationally created virtual being that looks and behaves like a real human, with the ability to show emotions and intelligence."
But when the project made its debut at CES 2020, it had people wondering what makes it different from other chatbots apart from its human-like features. To this, the startup has an answer on their FAQ sheet:
"Neons are not AI assistants," they shared. "Neons are more like us, an independent but virtual living being, who can show emotions and learn from experiences. Unlike AI assistants, Neons do not know it all, and they are not an interface to the internet to ask for weather updates or to play your favorite music."
Samsung Neon Doesn't Know It All
When a giant tech company releases something they call an "artificial human project" that actually looks something straight outta a sci-fi film in their teaser videos, you'd think that it would surpass the capabilities of its competitors. But Neon isn't like that. Unlike Google and Amazon's conversational bots, this one from Samsung's subsidiary isn't made to know all the answers to your questions.
Since these chatbots are designed to behave like us, they can act as TV anchors, teachers, actors, or care providers. They can even learn new skills and form memories, and "can be personalized to assist in tasks that require a human touch."
In a press release, STAR Labs CEO Pranav Mistry said that Neon is part of their effort to add one more species to our planet. "Neons will be our friends, collaborators, and companions, continually learning, evolving, and forming memories from their interactions," he added.
However, unlike what many expected, Neons cannot be exact copies of existing humans. Each chatbot is unique and has their own distinctive personalities.
Samsung Neon vs. Deepfakes
With Neon's lifelike features, concerns were raised about this technology being used for deepfakes. But the company was quick to report that Neons are different from facial reanimation techniques.
"CORE R3 does not manipulate an individual scene, videos or sequences," the startup tech company said. "Instead, it creates unique behaviors and interactions of Neons in real-time that never happened before. Thus, CORE R3 creates new realities."
