The CEO of Zoom has revealed his plans for the platform’s future - including ‘digital twins’ that could sit in meetings for you.
Communications technology company Zoom, founded in 2011 and launched in 2013, provides businesses and individuals with videotelephony and online chat services.
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the platform truly took off and allowed workers to carry out their career dreams remotely.
However, following many businesses implementing a return-to-work policy, Zoom’s popularity has declined and last year the company was forced to cut its workforce by 15 percent in February 2023.
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Despite its falling usage levels, founder, chairman and CEO Eric Yuan has claimed the platform is embarking on a ‘2.0 journey’ and hopes to utilise Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reach new heights.
Speaking to The Verge, the 54-year-old revealed his plans to reduce human involvement in Zoom by implementing a ‘digital twin’.
Yuan has stated he wants to leverage AI ‘more and more’ to the point where customers are able to send AI avatars into meetings and use the technology to respond to emails.
“You do not need to spend so much time [in meetings],” he said. “You do not have to have five or six Zoom calls every day. You can leverage the AI to do that.”
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He continued to say: “I can send a digital version of myself to join so I can go to the beach. Or I do not need to check my emails; the digital version of myself can read most of the emails.
“Again, today we all spend a lot of time either making phone calls, joining meetings, sending emails, deleting some spam emails and replying to some text messages, still very busy.”
He explained that implementing AI avatars in Zoom is ‘very important’ to the company in the future, but he doesn’t believe the tech is developed enough right now to begin working.
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“For any new technology, you cannot get it there overnight,” he lamented.
Despite wanting to utilise AI in meetings, Yuan understands the importance of human interaction and revealed that it cannot be replicated by a computer.
He said that companies ‘still need to have in-person interaction’ and that it’s ‘very important’ to be able to complete intimate conversations with colleagues and potential business partners.
Furthermore, the Zoom CEO believes it’s likely we will see an AI voice being used before a 3D version of yourself is able to sit in meetings.
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It’s important to note that Yuan’s comments point to Zoom’s ‘AI-first future’.
It is currently unclear whether the business has a plan or the technology in place to reach the point of digital AI twins sitting in meetings while you spend time with your family.
But hey, we can dream, can’t we?