Zoom CEO envisions AI avatars replacing humans in meetings

Zoom's founder, Eric Yuan, thinks a digital twin could do many tasks like reading emails and joining meetings. This twin is powered by Zoom's AI and can help with things like transcribing meetings and composing emails. In the future, it might be able to do even more tasks. For example, it could help you get most of your work done. Yuan imagines a scenario where the digital twin can handle emails while you relax or do other things. This could give you more time for creative activities and helping others. Yuan talks about a Zoom digital twin that could be personalized to represent a user and make decisions on their behalf. This twin could be based on a personal LLM, a large language model. This technology is still in development, but it could be the foundation for the digital twin. Yuan envisions a future where users can send their digital twin to attend meetings on their behalf, freeing them from routine work tasks. This future might be about five or six years away, but Zoom is working on technologies to make it closer to reality sooner. Zoom, a company valued at US$20 billion, made changes in February to focus on future growth areas like AI, sales, and product development. The company's CEO suggests that in the future, users could send AI avatars to represent them in meetings, reducing the need for constant online presence. This could allow for more in-person interactions and potentially fewer workdays. Each user might have their own LLM trained on their speech and behavior patterns to provide personalized responses. Combining various technologies could create a realistic AI avatar experience. Some people are concerned about the implications of blurring the lines between real and fake with these advanced technologies. Yuan acknowledges the potential risks of relying too much on AI for decision-making, emphasizing the importance of human oversight.