AI is moving from chatbots to fully embodied digital humans.
SXSW will showcase the largest avatar deployment wave yet.
Faces increase trust, engagement, and interaction time.
But engagement ≠ business impact.
Most AI Humans today are interface upgrades.
The next wave will be measured on outcomes.
As we head into SXSW, one shift is becoming impossible to ignore:
AI has a face now.
We’ve moved from:
Keyboard → Mouse → Touch → Voice → Face.
And when you put a face on AI, everything changes:
• Trust forms faster
• Engagement lasts longer
• Guidance feels personal
• Conversations feel accountable
Organizations are already deploying AI Humans across:
– Customer experience
– Healthcare intake
– Financial services
– Education
– Retail
But there’s a tension forming beneath the excitement.
Because while engagement is skyrocketing…
Outcomes are still catching up.
Many avatars capture attention.
Fewer drive measurable impact:
• Conversions
• Completed intakes
• Case resolution
• De-escalation
• Operational efficiency
Which raises the real question emerging at SXSW:
If AI Humans are doing human work…
Shouldn’t they be measured on human outcomes?
That’s the lens we’ll be exploring as we head to Austin.
Because the future of AI won’t just be defined by how it looks…
But by what it delivers.
