Hi everyone.
I’m Sara, and I’m a talent manager.
Who do I manage?
A girl named imma.
She's a fashionista that lives in Tokyo.
She posts about her life and her outfits
on social media platforms like Instagram,
TikTok and X.
She has a younger brother named Zinn
that she always gets in a fight with,
a little dog named Einstein
that she takes for walks.
Her favorite food is yakitori,
and she sits first row at fashion shows
and dances to TikTok videos.
Yep, just a normal girl online.
Except she doesn't exist.
She’s a virtual human,
made from CGI, born in 2017.
In other words,
she's a fictional character
made from 3D softwares,
a unique blend of softwares like Maya
and Unreal Engine and a bit more.
She's not a mimic or copy
of anyone that's existing in real life.
She's a complete original character.
These are some of her Instagram posts.
The middle one is her brushing
her teeth when she's virtual.
The other one says hashtag
"I think I'm CGI,
but these dogs are real."
This one goes, "I cut half my bangs off.
Is it going to grow back
even though I'm virtual?"
These are some of her other TikTok videos.
Oh, and that brother that she has.
Yep, you guessed it.
He's not real either.
I wish he was though.
(Laughter)
We manage him and dozens of other
virtual humans around the world.
And in the near future,
we’re integrating them with AI
so that they become
autonomous virtual humans
that you can have a conversation with.
This is a little demo video.
(Video) imma: Nice to meet you, John.
Feel free to ask me anything.
John: Nice to meet you too.
How are you?
imma: Nice to meet you.
I'm feeling good today.
How about you?
John: How does it actually feel
to be fused with AI?
Sara Giusto: Yes, they exist
in the virtual world,
but these virtual humans have an impact
in our real world too.
imma has repeatedly shared her opinions
on real-world issues,
including climate change
and Black Lives Matter.
She initiated a community get-together
in the virtual world during COVID
for people who were feeling
lonely and isolated.
She also shares
about her Japanese culture
and subculture to her global audience.
For these actions,
she was actually chosen
as one of the Forbes Woman of the Year --
(Laughter)
Right beside the likes of climate change
activist Greta Thunberg
and former US First Lady Michelle Obama.
She’s also been featured
in Tokyo 2020 Paralympics,
in the closing ceremony,
and has been awarded an award
from the Government of Japan
for her actions in going to Cambodia
and voicing about its domestic
violence issues.
She's also in real campaigns.
She's worked with brands
from Amazon, Porsche, BMW,
skincare brand SK-II,
IKEA and more.
Right now, you can actually
see an ad of her all over the world
with her campaign with Coach,
right beside co-star Lil Nas X.
She's also in real magazines,
on the covers,
from Harper's Bazaar, Voce and Wonderland.
Yes, she doesn't technically exist,
but the younger generation
of Gen Z don't care.
Gen Zs love her because they feel
a real connection to her.
For them, there's not much of a difference
between someone
that is real-life, breathing
that's doing Instagram
and a virtual human like imma.
For example, I know a lot
of Gen Zs love Kylie Jenner,
and even if they've never met her before,
they feel like they know
everything about her.
From where she takes
her family to vacation,
her aspirations
and to even what she eats for breakfast.
Why?
Because she posts these things online,
and people feel a real connection to her.
Same thing with imma.
She posts about her life online,
and people feel a real connection.
She posts an outfit picture,
and people would ask,
"Where is that dress from?"
She gets a lot of questions
about her perfectly cut bob hair, too.
People want to know
who's the famous hairstylist
that's keeping it perfectly cut.
He or she doesn't exist
because the hair is not real.
Like this, people love
interacting with her,
sharing about their life to her
and even giving her real-life
advice when she needs it.
And I mean, I think we've all
caught up by now,
scrolling through Instagram,
TikTok or a live.
What's really real
in the virtual world anyways?
Now does all of this scare any of you?
Maybe it does.
But I promise,
I'm not a scary AI
evil virtual human scientist.
I'm actually quite the opposite.
I'm a human lover.
And I truly believe
that this virtual human technology
will better our world
and make the treasures
that we have as humans --
our love, our connection
and our self-expressions -- way better.
Before all of this,
I used to be an artist.
I still am at heart.
But like most artists, all my life,
I've been searching for something
beautiful and meaningful.
I felt like I found it,
the beautiful and meaningful,
in imma when I first laid eyes on her.
Well, actually, not going to lie,
when I first first saw her,
I was like, what the heck is this?
But the more I thought about it
and thought about the real connections
that people were having
with this piece of technology,
I was amazed.
I thought it was revolutionary
because all my life,
technology to me has been
something useful,
something I use every day,
but it was never personal to me.
For example, I would ask Siri,
what's the weather like?
And it would say, “It’s 11 Celsius today.”
And that was it.
I didn't really have a connection
or relationship with it.
But humans are innately
emotional creatures,
and our world moves
with what moves our hearts.
So what if we can get that same
feeling from technology?
What if we can create relationships
like we do with friends,
family, coworkers
and even with our alternative selves
through virtual humans?
What if we can have a positive impact
in different industries from medical,
educational and entertainment --
all leveraging on the deep connection
between humans and technology?
imma is the first example
of so much more to come.
If there was a book
of virtual human history,
we're barely on page one.
And who's better to tell you
all of that than Imma herself?
We're going to be joining
with her live from Tokyo.
Hi, imma.
imma: Hello, hi, Sara.
SG: Hi, imma.
imma: And hi, everyone.
Wow, look at the audience.
Being the TED stage,
I can't believe it.
I have to pinch myself.
Oh, wait, I can't, I am virtual.
(Laughter)
Well, sometimes we all forget, right?
Anyways, my name is imma,
and it’s a pleasure to meet you all.
I'm joining you all the way from Japan.
Konnichiwa.
SG: Konnichiwa.
How’s the weather like in Tokyo today?
imma: Well, I think it rained a little bit
this morning, but it’s quite sunny,
and you should get ready
for the summer when you get there, Sara.
SG: Nice.
Vancouver is ...
It's beautiful here.
I can see the ocean, the mountains.
And I think it's around
11 Celsius right now.
imma: Wow, sounds freezing.
Well, anyways, even though
I'm in Tokyo right now,
I can technically go anywhere,
so a special invite.
I love making friends.
If you feel like connecting,
I’ll wait for your DMs, or whatever.
Just don't send anything weird, OK?
Was that good, Sara?
SG: That was great, thanks for popping by.
And say bye to the audience for us.
imma: Bye. Good luck, Sara.
SG: Thank you, imma.
So that was imma.
(Applause)
How I want to conclude is,
we shouldn't get caught up
in the topic of what's real
and what's not real,
because, I mean,
what's really real, anyways?
We should get away
from the dystopian narrative
of the virtual world that we have
and seize possibilities
for human connection
and possibilities for human expression.
Because human possibility
is the same as technology:
it’s limitless.
Thank you
(Applause)