It is official: The race for AI supremacy is on. Google and Baidu have both announced the launch of their own chatbots as a response to OpenAI's ChatGPT. The chatbot's overnight success has not only surprised the world by making the technology available to anyone but also by becoming the fastest-growing application in history.
The increasing popularity of AI has prompted other tech giants like Microsoft to implement the technology in their main platforms but most importantly, has startups and lesser-known companies to shine. Such an example is Wonders.ai, a San Jose-based AI company looking to develop the next generation of AI companions. Whereas companies like OpenAi and now Google have chosen to focus on perfecting chatbots, Wonders.ai has chosen to add a new dimension to them.
The company has now announced the launch of its AI virtual companion platform, which became available on February 14, 2023. Meant to be the next step in AI evolution, the platform is all about providing its users with a personal AI-powered companion that goes beyond the chatbot experience. Unlike other AI systems, this companion not only will be able to interact with the external world through AR but will also go beyond the virtual assistance model of other tools.
Instead of being limited to social communication and personal planning, Wonderverse has designed this companion to be anything from an image consultant to a nutritionist. This is possible due to the app's ability to engage in personalized learning, access hardware like cameras, and adapt to its user's unique needs. For example, the virtual companion can learn to identify foods by taking pictures of them and adding nutritional information, making calorie tracking and other relevant nutritional activities easier than ever.
Given the diverse and important roles that Wonder.ai's companions can play in the life of its users, developing an emotional connection between both is of extreme importance. This is why user interaction will play an integral role in how their AI companions turn out in terms of personality, look, voice, and more. To the developer, the fact that the same character can behave entirely differently with two different users is not only important but integral to their companions' success.
To further expand the options its users have when it comes to personalization, Wonders.AI has chosen to collaborate with talent agencies like Phase Connect and MyHolo TV. Streamers, influencers, and other online personalities will be able to have their distinctive personalities and style infused into these AI companions, bringing a new level of connection between companions and users.
The benefits of this cooperation go beyond aesthetics. As the AI companion will effectively become an avatar of the influencer, VTuber, or personality behind it, they will be able to use their model to stream and record videos. In addition to this, given the AR capabilities of Wonders.ai, users will be able to project their companions in the real world, changing the way they interact with their favorite online celebrities forever through 3D streaming.
All of these features make Wonder's AI able to play a more complex role than just being a research or work assistant as in the case of ChatGPT and other popular AIs. Wonder's ability to adapt, learn, and interact in ways that go beyond typical AI models not only allows it to improve companionship but also to get closer to what AI experts like Dr. Abdalla Kablan considers the latest step in AI development: artificial wisdom.
"In general, the road towards achieving wisdom is a five-step process. You start with data, processed data becomes information, and information evolves into knowledge. Knowledge then forms into understanding, and with processing, application, and learning understanding becomes wisdom," wrote Dr. Kablan recently when referring to ChatGPT and similar models' recent success. "When it comes to AI we are still in step 3, which is knowledge, and we still have a long way for machines to achieve true wisdom."
With virtual wisdom being the real objective behind AI, Wonder.AI's ability to imbue their virtual companions with "AI empathy" is one of the biggest developments in AI technology. By making AI more empathetic, as well as allowing it to be more interactive and portable with AR, these virtual companions not only will help users improve their daily lives but it will also get the industry closer to an actual AI revolution.
