Crowd Media beds down investment in Aflorithmic Labs as part of AI collaboration
As part of the deal, Crowd Media will integrate Aflorithmic’s voice cloning technology into its AI-driven Talking Heads platform.
Crowd Media Holdings (ASX: CM8) has bedded down its investment in artificial intelligence developer Aflorithmic Labs.
Under a deal announced late last month, Crowd has scooped up a 10% stake in Aflorithmic Labs by investing $1.773 million into the entity. In return, Aflorithmic will secure a 1.3% interest in Crowd, which is still subject to shareholder approval next month.
According to Crowd, the deal enables Crowd to accelerate integration of its own AI Q&A Chatbox technology with Aflorithmic’s voice cloning technology.
Crowd will also work these technologies in with video technology from another partner VRF Assets and Holdings.
To-date, Crowd’s Chatbox technology has processed more than 180 million questions and answers.
Once completely integrated, the technologies will underpin Crowd’s Talking Head platform that aims to “deliver an immersive experience” combining sight, sound and real-time conversation.
Crowd chairman Steven Schapera said the completed investment in Aflorithmic was another “significant milestone” in developing and commercialising the Talking Head technology.
By collaborating with Aflorithmic, Mr Schapera noted Crowd was lowering any potential technical risk by engaging an experienced and specialised team.
He added Aflorithmic’s input will also reduce timelines required to get the technology up and running.
Crowd anticipates the technology will be applicable in many sectors including influencer marketing, ecommerce, health and education.
Conversational AI
In Deloitte Digital’s recent Conversational AI report, it describes the technology as a “programmatic and intelligent” way of giving a “conversational experience” that mimics conversations with real people.
The technology enables organisations to provide “personalised and differentiated experiences” to their customers, which then helps build relationships.
“Each interaction can feel like a [one-on-one] conversation that is context aware and informed by past interactions,” Deloitte explained.
The technology is designed to improve customer acquisition rates, reduce churn, and boost revenue per customer, while reducing cost-to-serve and improving employee satisfaction by providing support and doing basic routine tasks.
Deloitte predicts the conversational AI market will grow from $6 billion in 2019 to $22.6 billion by 2024 – equating to a compound annual growth rate of 30.2% during the period.