Zoom Introduces AI Avatars to Communicate with Your Team on Your Behalf

Zoom is advancing its AI capabilities by introducing customizable AI avatars to represent users in meetings. As part of its AI expansion, Zoom plans to allow users to create a digital avatar that can send messages to team members.

To create your AI avatar, you must first record a video of yourself. Zoom's AI will use this video to generate an avatar that closely resembles your appearance and voice. You can then compose a message that your avatar will deliver on your behalf. This feature is integrated with Zoom’s Clips, enabling you to share concise video updates with colleagues.

Addressing concerns about deepfakes, Smita Hashim, Zoom’s chief product officer, emphasized that the company is implementing advanced authentication, watermark technology, and strict usage policies to ensure responsible use.

The custom AI avatars are set to launch early next year as part of Zoom’s custom AI Companion add-on, available for an additional $12 per month. For users without the add-on but with a paid subscription, Zoom will still offer the option to create clips using preset AI avatars and voices.

During a recent interview, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan articulated his vision of sending a “digital twin” to participate in meetings while engaging in other activities. He remarked, “Ideally, I do not need to join. I can send a digital version of myself to join so I can go to the beach.”

In addition to AI avatars, Zoom’s new add-on will enable integration with third-party productivity apps like Zendesk and Asana, along with offering new personalization options for custom meeting summary templates.