TikTok announced Monday that it is introducing creative AI avatars of creators and contributors for branded content and ads on its platform. The company is also launching an “AI Dubbing” tool for creators and brands to extend the reach of their ads and branded content.
The new “Custom Avatars” are designed to represent a creator or brand representative. Creators can choose to scale their likeness to create multilingual avatars to expand their global reach and brand partnerships, TikTok says. Brands can create avatars with their spokesperson or a creator they’ve partnered with to localize their global campaigns.
There are also new “Stock Avatars”, which are pre-made avatars created using paid actors that are licensed for commercial use. The idea behind these avatars is to give businesses a way to add a human touch to their content. TikTok says the avatars are created with actors from a range of backgrounds, nationalities and languages.
The release of new tools can be unsettling for some. Hollywood actors went on strike last year over a number of different concerns about artificial intelligence, including fear that their likeness would be used to create clones of artificial intelligence. With TikTok’s new AI avatars, creators are in control of whether they want their likeness used. Creators can also set their prices, licenses, and who can use their avatar.
As for the new AI Dubbing tool, it will allow creators and brands to translate their content into 10 languages, including English, Japanese, Korean and Spanish. It automatically detects the language in a video and then transcribes and translates the content to produce a dubbed video in the preferred language. TikTok says the new feature allows creators and brands to communicate with a global audience.
The launch comes as TikTok recently revealed that 61% of users made a purchase either directly on TikTok or after seeing an ad.
The new features will be available as part of “TikTok Symphony,” the company’s suite of ad solutions powered by genetic artificial intelligence, which launched in May. The suite includes tools that help marketers write scripts, produce videos and enhance their current assets.
TikTok is growing its advertising business despite facing a possible ban in the US if its parent company, ByteDance, fails to sell the app within a year.
