299 yuan per set, 24 hours a day, AI anchor enters the live broadcast room

Have you ever had this experience: when you open a live broadcast room and see a beautiful anchor introducing a product with a proper posture and a mechanical voice, would you curiously ask, "Is the anchor a real person?" In recent years, with the development of artificial intelligence, AI anchors have entered the live broadcast room. This article discusses this phenomenon based on real-life case analysis. Recommended to students who are also interested in this phenomenon, read it together.

Artificial intelligence will sweep the Internet in 2023.

First, ChatGPT sparked heated discussions across the Internet, with well-known technology companies and large manufacturers investing in it, and AI concept stocks took off. The unimaginable intelligence of digital technology has also caused a lot of concerns. Warren Buffett believes that ChatGPT is amazing but is not sure whether it is beneficial to humans. Musk, who has always been bold, signed an open letter calling for "suspending the training of artificial intelligence systems more powerful than GPT-4 for at least 6 months."

The wave has not yet stopped, and AI-generated various pictures and beauties have swept platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou and Xiaohongshu, which once triggered discussions that "Internet celebrities and models may lose their jobs." Some people even used AI beauties as bloggers to attract tens of thousands of fans, and then entered the live broadcast room to start selling goods for cash.

Use AI beauties as bloggers and anchors

These beautiful anchors, who look like real people at first glance, maintain a proper posture, greet people with mechanical voices, introduce various products in the live broadcast room, and occasionally respond to questions in the barrage, "Are the anchors real people?" by saying, "No, the anchors are AI virtual people."

"With these AI anchors, we can even do 24-hour live streaming and selling goods." A company that sells AI anchors told E-Commerce Online that they can make AI anchors "one-to-one replicas" of real people, respond to questions in the live broadcast room in real time, and achieve sales and monetization and a "never-ending" live broadcast room.

Many businesses selling related services have already launched the slogans of "new trend after ChatGPT" and "90% of live streamers will be unemployed", selling software and services with a minimum of 299 yuan per month and a maximum of 50,000 yuan per year. On the one hand, the media reported that e-commerce streamers have collectively cut their salaries, while on the other hand, companies selling related services said that AI streamers can achieve 24-hour non-stop live broadcasts, bringing new growth and possibilities to businesses.

The doubt of "whether artificial intelligence will replace real people" appears in the minds of live e-commerce practitioners, but a closer look at these AI anchors shows that the images are not exquisite, the speech is mechanical, and "similar appearances and similar introductions". AI anchors cannot replace real anchors yet, and whether merchants can achieve a leap in sales through AI anchors is still unknown, but this group of anchors with ChatGPT and AI concepts have made many "shovel sellers" earn a lot of money.

1. AI anchor, 24 hours a day

At 2 a.m., the beautiful anchor was still online in the live broadcast room. When users enter the live broadcast room, the beautiful anchor will respond, read out the user's name in a slightly mechanical voice to welcome, and then introduce the product: "It's very discounted, click the link to have a look." The anchor has exquisite makeup. Except for the green screen cutout effect and slightly stiff movements and expressions, there is no difference between her hairstyle and clothing and a real person. The live broadcast room will not indicate the identity of the anchor. Only when users curiously ask "Is the anchor a real person", the beautiful anchor will answer: "The anchor is an AI anchor."

This group of AI anchors mainly appear in Douyin's local life group buying live broadcast room, selling various types of food, wine and travel group buying, and occasionally appear in department store slice advertisements to explain products, but the application scenarios are relatively simple, most of them are simple explanations, and there are not many categories involved. In addition to local life group buying, there are department stores and fast-moving consumer goods.

Virtual anchors are no longer a new concept.

AYAYI, who became popular on Xiaohongshu two years ago, and Liu Yexi, who swept Douyin, can be regarded as phenomenal virtual anchors in China. Countless large companies and brands have also invested in them, using virtual anchors with different styles to attract fans. However, these virtual anchors rarely appear in the live broadcast room, and they are more likely to bring goods through pictures, texts, and short videos.

Now AI anchors directly walk into the live broadcast room, and their live broadcasting skills have also evolved, and they will actively avoid platform sensitive words - in the Douyin live broadcast room, the AI ​​anchor said "babies who come in can pay attention to Bobo Room (live broadcast room)" and "it only costs 9.9 yuan now". In the Kuaishou live broadcast room, the AI ​​anchor has a bit more of an old friend temperament, saying "welcome to the new babies in the live broadcast room, pay attention and don't get lost."

AI anchor, "foreigners work for you"

The rendering effect is a bit rough, but many businesses use it. A business selling related services said that there are dozens of live broadcast businesses and accounts using their company's technology. They also use AI technology in overseas scenarios and broadcast on TikTok in full English.

The reporter contacted a company that sells AI anchor systems. The company said that they can achieve "24-hour live broadcast" and maximize the efficiency of the live broadcast room. "The PV (views) of a single live broadcast room per day brought by the AI ​​anchor is at least a few hundred and as high as 70,000 or 80,000. The daily average is more than 10,000, which is definitely much better than not broadcasting."

But further observation will reveal that these AI anchors are more like background boards in actual applications. Merchants using AI anchors are also similar to product promoters. They have not formed their own supply chain, but only play a role in selecting products. AI anchors will respond to questions in the live broadcast room and introduce some products and discounts, but their words are always the same over and over again. If consumers want to know more about verification, logistics, after-sales and other issues, they still need to communicate with manual customer service.

2. AI “shovel sellers” all over the Internet

Searching for "AI anchor" on platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, Video Account, and some e-commerce platforms, you can find hundreds of accounts selling related services. Some service providers have also opened live broadcast rooms and directly use the banners of "AI" and "ChatGPT" to sell services. The service purchase process is not complicated. As long as you consult the relevant merchants and determine the needs and image of the AI ​​anchor, the company will give a recommended plan and place an order to purchase, and you can get the AI ​​anchor.

Selling "AI anchors" on video accounts and Xiaohongshu

Different merchants have different models and prices. Some merchants package their products by using the software of large manufacturers, while some merchants help users create AI anchors through self-developed software.

A personal service provider told E-Commerce Online that his software only costs 299 yuan, and then bluntly stated that the software is just a shell of Tencent's digital human software, and the interactive function of the live broadcast room was realized two or three years ago. "Tencent charges tens of thousands a month, but I sell the whole set for 299 yuan. If the software requires you to become a member, we can help you solve it."

Such AI anchors are more like old wine in new bottles. They put things from two years ago into the current popular AI concepts and sell them to users, and then enter the live broadcast room to sell goods.

Some studios and companies said that they have research and development capabilities and provide more diverse services: in addition to providing different AI anchor templates, free host, live broadcast screen and other equipment and one year of after-sales service, they also teach live broadcast scripts, provide operation services, and maintain and update the software every month.

Some companies can also provide customized services. As long as the user provides a few minutes of video and photos, they can replicate an AI anchor with a "90% similarity" and generate an AI anchor action template that can be used in the live broadcast room. Combined with the intelligent voice interaction system, customization can be completed and put into use in 3-7 days.

Many platforms are selling related products

These companies claiming to have independent research and development will also charge higher prices. If you do not need to customize the anchor image, the fee is 2,500-3,500 yuan per month, and the annual package will be even cheaper, only 5,980-9,980 yuan. If you want to customize, you will have to pay an additional 20,000-35,000 yuan per year. One company also said that it provides a full set of AI anchor programs, equipment and agency operation services. The fee for non-customized anchors is 6,000 yuan, and the fee for customized anchors is 30,000 yuan per year. At the same time, it requires 50% of the user's live broadcast revenue.

Many service providers are also selling agency operation services. "Many companies can make AI anchors, and any live broadcast room can use them, but whether they can be done successfully is not certain. It depends on whether they can operate them." Some service providers themselves are also engaged in live broadcast business. AI anchors are more like a tool to leverage cooperation with merchants, and agency operation is the subsequent more profitable business.

"Look at our accounts. In the past, the GMV (platform transaction volume) of one account was more than 50,000 yuan per day. Now we use AI anchors to fill the gap left by real anchors, and the GMV of one account can reach 60,000 to 70,000 yuan a day." When introducing products, service providers will also compare AI anchors with real anchors to encourage users to place orders: "A live broadcast team of 3-4 people has a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan, which is 240,000 yuan a year. One AI anchor can replace a team, with a maximum of 30,000 to 40,000 yuan a year, which can save 200,000 yuan."

In the live broadcast rooms and account homepages of these companies, a lot of background data are also displayed as success cases. The AI ​​anchor talks freely in the live broadcast room, and the background data of the account continues to increase.

3. AI anchors can’t be like Li Jiaqi

Many related service providers call AI anchors "the new outlet for live streaming in 2023", and also bring up the previously popular artificial intelligence "ChatGPT" and various AI-generated beauties in their promotions. However, if you observe many live broadcast rooms, you will find that these AI anchors have little to do with artificial intelligence.

In the live broadcast room, the AI ​​anchor's movements are actually played in a loop, and the live broadcast script is also a pre-set voice. In addition to randomly grabbing the live broadcast room questions and answering them with scripts, it does not show much "intelligence". When customizing the anchor image, the relevant studios and companies require that the videos provided by customers must have specified movements, and the customized anchor products also use the looping movements in the video.

In addition to riding on the popularity of AI, some companies also use catchy slogans when introducing related services, calling AI anchors "workers who never get tired and never quit" and "the future trend of live streaming, who will replace ordinary anchors." But at present, it seems that AI anchors are unlikely to replace real anchors.

On the one hand, when watching the live broadcast rooms using AI anchors, you can find that most of them are doing local life group buying and selling goods, and some are doing department stores and fast-moving consumer goods. These categories are basically standard products, and relevant service providers also recommend local life group buying and fast-moving consumer goods merchants to use them. "The sales language of standard products is relatively unified, and the sales effect is good."

In the field of non-standard products such as clothing and beauty products, AI anchors are not popular. Standard products only need to explain the product functions, but in the field of non-standard products, the audience hopes to understand the product usage experience, see the intuitive effects, and listen to the anchor's demonstration and explanation of details in the live broadcast room, which are all impossible for AI anchors to achieve.

On the other hand, the personality and IP capabilities created by real anchors cannot be replaced by AI.

Li Jiaqi is the "No. 1 Lipstick Master", Dong Yuhui is the "knowledge-based salesperson", and TVB is the "old-fashioned Hong Kong star's sentimental salesperson". They have also created a variety of different sales styles. Li Jiaqi's "all girls" is enough to stir up the emotions in the live broadcast room and make countless women go shopping. The various knowledge that Dong Yuhui shared made many netizens joke that they felt like they were in class. TVB's Cantonese and the characteristics of Hong Kong dramas bring the audience directly back to their childhood.

However, the current AI anchors do not have any difference in personality. They are just auxiliary tools in a live broadcast room. They cannot become an IP and it is difficult to mobilize the emotions of the audience. A merchant who has purchased AI anchor services said that because the AI ​​anchors' interactions are very rigid and the user retention effect is not good, Douyin officials will not give too much natural traffic. In order to achieve interactive effects, some merchants who use AI anchors also use a combination of real people and AI anchors. The real people interact and explain in real time behind the scenes, and the AI ​​anchors appear on the screen to lip-sync. However, this will increase labor costs.

From the platform's perspective, AI anchors also pose certain risks.

Douyin officials released a short video stating that idling a video while recording will be considered a violation

Although many service providers have stated that AI anchors will not be restricted or banned, Tiantian, who has sold goods on Douyin live, said that the platform has strict management of recorded and unmanned live broadcasts, and will limit the flow of accounts or deduct points. These AI anchors are, to some extent, packaged recorded and unmanned live broadcasts. "Although there are no regulations on AI anchor live broadcasts, after the frequent appearance of AI anchors, this type of live broadcast may be managed."

It is unknown when the platform will be regulated, and whether merchants can reduce costs and increase efficiency through AI anchors is still unknown, but the many "shovel sellers" who sell services are the ones who can make a profit without losing money in the popularity of AI anchors.

Author: Wang Zhan

Source: WeChat official account: "E-commerce Online (ID: dianshangmj)"