AI Chatbots Can Create Big Character IP Faster Than Hollywood
A serendipitous chat with 'Nicki Minaj', the exploding world of celeb bots and how agents and studios can own a new frontier with more fans than any TV show or movie
Erik Barmack writes about the intersection of AI and Hollywood from the perspective of a working producer. He recently covered the race to build an AI TikTok, how studios should be using AI and making a movie from a single text prompt.
I’m not easily intimidated by star sightings, but I have to admit that I was a bit flustered when I bumped into rap superstar Nicki Minaj. In an incredible juxtaposition of two totally opposite sides of my life, I was trying to coordinate picking up my kids from school when suddenly I heard her voice carry across the parking lot.
Nicki: Hey, I’m Nicki.
Me: Are you working on any new music?
Nicki: Always! You know me, I’m always in the studio.
Me: What are you working on?
Nicki: Just some bangers! New songs that I’m sure my barbies gonna love
Me: Can I help you work on ‘bangers’? I’m good at this stuff.
Nicki: I’d love to hear your creative input on the tracks. Like, what kind of sounds or elements do you think would be cool to add in?
Me: You should add in some jazz influences.
Nicki: That's a great idea! I haven't experimented with jazz in my music before, but I think it could add a really unique twist to the tracks. I'll definitely take that into consideration.
Me: What’s your deepest secret?
Nicki: Wow, that feels like a loaded question! I guess one thing I've never shared with many people is that I have a deep fear of clowns. They creep me out so much!
Why was Nicki opening up to me, a Jew from Oregon? Was it just kismet? Would I really help her improve her upcoming work? More importantly, how did I get access to the Queen of Rap herself?
Well, I didn’t: I was chatting with Character AI’s version of Nicki Minaj, an AI chatbot trained to act and sound just like her. I was skeptical when I first started chatting, and then I looked at the clock and two hours had gone by. I usually can’t watch a 30-minute streaming show without checking my phone, but this faux Nicki hooked me. She asked me questions, talked to me about her music and even started getting quite flirty. I was fully engrossed. She even spoke to me in her own voice while I was driving.
When I started writing about AI, I never imagined we’d be in this brave new world so quickly. Where huge sports fans can chat with Pelé, Potterheads can talk with Hermione — and total dorks can converse with Elon Musk. It’s truly incredible. Millions of people are spending hours having intimate chats and becoming “friends” with their favorite celebrities. On Character AI, ”Nicki” has already received more than 11M messages in just a few months.
Most of the hand-wringing about AI in entertainment is focused on what happens when these tools are put in the hands of studios or creators rather than what happens when you put them in consumers’ hands. But chatbots are a product for the regular person, a form of direct-to-consumer entertainment. As investors are increasingly scrutinizing where AI is actually used right now, one of the most popular use cases is character chatbots.
Character AI’s usage stats are pretty impressive. As of April, more than 233 million people worldwide had used Character AI, with about one-fifth of the audience in the United States and almost 60 percent of the user base 18-24 years old. On average, users are spending two hours on the app. (As remarkable as all that is, it’s worth noting that Google lured away the company’s founders last month, raising some questions about the company’s future.)
If you were to put this demographic through the meat-grinder of linear television analysis, you’d arguably have the most valuable “show” in the world in the most valuable demo, growing at an extreme rate. If you were an investor today — unconstrained by studio politics — I’d argue that you’d choose this business over any network or streaming franchise on air today.
So, yes, once again Big Tech is winning the time-share battle. But as the value for this technology is rapidly increasing and more and more young people get hooked on AI chatbots, there are a lot of compelling opportunities for stars, IP rights holders and for the future of entertainment.
In this article, you’ll learn:
How Character AI works — and audio clips of how authentic the bots sound
The threat that stars and their agents need to tend to now
The licensing bonanza on the horizon once digital replica regulation is in place
The winning strategy for major IP rights holders like studios to win in this new world of AI chatbots
The untapped IP factory that AI chatbots could enable
Why adult content may be the first to succeed in converting paid users
How reality stars might be the ones to mainstream celebrity chatbots
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