Exploring the Potential of AI Avatars
AI avatars provide a powerful way to create multilingual content, saving time and cost with adaptable digital presenters.
AI avatars are changing how we create and deliver content, offering adaptable spokespersons that can work across audiences and languages.
I recently experimented with tools like Kapwing and Hygen, and saw how they can make content creation faster and more versatile. This article explores the potential, strengths, limitations, and opportunities of AI avatars.
Why AI Avatars are exciting
AI avatars offer many benefits for marketers, educators, and communicators by enabling consistent, dynamic, and scalable videos. The key strength is adaptability—avatars can change what they say and speak different languages.
For a company with customers in multiple countries, AI avatars eliminate the need for costly re-shoots, voiceovers, and translations. This flexibility makes them highly promising, especially for multilingual audiences.
Experimenting with Kapwing and Hygen
I explored Kapwing and Hygen, which offer a variety of characters to suit different brand personalities. I experiment with these tools out of curiosity, but mostly for the benefit of my clients.
My focus was on the Dutch language, and while the results were impressive, they still need improvement. The pronunciation lacked the nuance of a native speaker, but these tools are evolving quickly.
Both platforms offer options to integrate text directly into the video or provide subtitles (SRT). Including subtitles ensures accessibility and helps with SEO when publishing content online.
Here is the example with Kapwing:
And this I produced with HyGen:
Next Steps: Creating my own AI Avatar
Next, I plan to create an AI avatar using my own voice and image to explore personalisation. I currently don't have a personal use case where I could replace something existing.
However, there are options for growth that I am now considering. I see content moving from text to video, and if I had my own avatar, I would probably use it to explain more about myself, rather than filming everything. My aim now is to publish a short video bio first.
I plan to mix content—show who I am in real life and then hand it over to my avatar. Can a digital version of myself be convincing? Will it convey emotion and personality effectively? I currently am looking into Synthesia and will share in the coming weeks.
Potential use cases and costs
AI avatars could be used for customer support videos, personalised sales pitches, and multilingual marketing campaigns. I hope to identify which types of content work best, balancing automation with human connection.
AI tools require subscriptions or per-use payments, which can add up. However, compared to hiring actors, filming crews, and editing teams, AI avatars are far more affordable. For small projects or budget-conscious businesses, they are a compelling alternative, and costs will likely decrease as technology matures.
My conclusion
AI avatars are not yet perfect, but they are improving fast. Their adaptability makes them valuable for businesses seeking to expand reach affordably.
I look forward to sharing more, including my experiences creating a digital version of myself. What seems experimental today could soon become the norm.
