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Jakarta Post

Genexyz gives meta-humans central role in marketing

Genexyz creates meta-humans and builds stories around them. The start-up’s co-founder, Belinda Luis, spoke with The Jakarta Post's Yohana Belinda on May 25 about the future of meta-humans and the role of AI in the creative industries.  

Yohana Belinda (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, May 30, 2023

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Genexyz gives meta-humans central role in marketing

I

em>In the fast-changing world of marketing, rising digitalization is paving the way to make so-called virtual influencers a new norm. Big brands including Prada and Calvin Klein have collaborated with renowned virtual influencer dubbed Lil Miquela.

That trend has begun to take hold in Indonesia, where there is no shortage of jobs for meta-humans. Examples include artificial intelligence (AI)-based immigration officials at Soekarno Hatta Airport, virtual news anchors on TV One and many more.

Genexyz creates meta-humans and builds stories around them. The start-up’s cofounder Belinda Luis spoke with The Jakarta Post's Yohana Belinda on May 25 about the future of meta-humans and the role of AI in the creative industries.

Could you tell us a bit about your company's history? How did you start the business?

In 2020, I founded Titans Tech, an immersive technology and gaming firm; in 2022, I launched Genexyz.

However, the main reason that I created Genexyz was due to the loss of my father and the recognition of patterns in the meta-humans around me. I wondered if technology could help me bring back those memories [with my father] through meta-human technology, though I am aware that the technological representation of my father is not genuine. Later on, I realized there was an opportunity to expand the company's technological operations and to integrate them widely in multiple markets.

I also believe that Indonesia has a significant opportunity to become a major producer of meta-humans, so we're putting a lot of effort into it – after all, Indonesia is technologically behind the United States (Lil Miquela) and Japan (Imma). I realized that there are a lot of influencers in the country but there haven't been many meta-human influencers, so why not give it a shot?

Have you made any returns since you started the business?

We've been in business for a year and are just now beginning to turn a profit. However, we have attracted diverse customers, from well-established corporations to emerging businesses.

That's why we're very selective about whom we do business with and who we let inside our company. For the simple reason, we need to verify the credibility of our investors' claims of knowledge.

Soon, we hope to reveal our investors! While many of our customers have already shared their ideas with us, we're also actively pursuing potential customers.

How do you design the meta-humans? Have you developed your own software?

At this stage, we started focusing more on the meta-humans' movements and facial expressions. We also analyze consumer preferences to determine the most in-demand facial features.

Adding personality and "soul" to future meta-humans is also important, as it gives them a more relatable quality.

At this time, no specialized software is being employed. In the long run, though, developing our own software is in the pipeline.

What kinds of services do you offer to your clients?

Customers have the ability to request their very own personal virtual brand ambassadors, much like the first financial educator offered by BCA and virtual customer educator by First Media. However, we are also open to partnerships that involve our own intellectual property (IP) and meta-humans, such as Laverda Salsabila, also known as Lav Caca, and ZV.

As a result, with the assistance of our skillful teams (ranging from graphic designers to voiceover talents), our meta-humans are able to advocate through a range of channels, such as photographs and live videos.

In addition, we employ AI in our workflows, but applying this technology requires human oversight and verification, particularly when producing a story or a photograph.

Do you have a specific target market in mind for your services?

We focus on Indonesia's banking, fintech and technology sectors, where we can [support] their business-to-business (B2B) services, customer services, marketing and innovation. We are open to expanding to other sectors and Southeast Asian countries in the future.

How do you gain customers' trust, considering that your influencers aren't real?

To begin with, our customers put their faith in us, and when they entrust us with their ideas, they know that our staff will conduct exhaustive research. We also have specialists in several fields. Although we use AI in some service components, we maintain complete control over the technology.

When it comes to audience and consumer confidence, there are currently more people who are open to the internet world. The meta-human influencers that we produce have received widespread praise.

How do you see the prospects of meta-human AI services in Indonesia?

Without a doubt, Indonesia's technology sector will continue to develop. The primary reason is that more and more people throughout the country are getting interested in and curious about the employment of AI and meta-humans for technological applications.

Considering the beneficial aspects of having access to the meta-humans, clients can customize their meta-human to meet their requirements. In addition to their requirements, their timetables can also be easily organized.

These meta-humans are also omnipresent, and they are tireless, which means that if a customer wants a performance or endorsement to take place in five different places at the same time, these meta-humans will be able to make that happen effortlessly.

Space for innovation and development in the technological sphere is thus wide open.

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