Drop the mic. Check out Synthesia.io: your new AI tool for business presentations.

Is Synthesia.io one of the most significant steps forward for business communications since Microsoft PowerPoint?

It is no secret that artificial intelligence applications have captivated businesses everywhere. We can see this form of technology integrated into so many aspects of our daily life. After all, who doesn’t want to automate repetitive tasks? We may also become used to applications predicting our needs with reasonable accuracy.

Technologies like GPT-3 now mean that we have software applications becoming increasingly valuable for our day-to-day lives. It is impressive to see how AI can identify how happy someone is merely by looking at a photo of them. AI also taps into great creative potential from machine learning and pattern recognition. For instance, DALL-E is an application that can combine two concepts and create surreal artwork.

A quick breakdown of current GPT-3 applications reveals 253 different applications (as of the time of writing this article). I expected to see most of these applications related to a particular use case. For instance, AI tools for content creation. Was this the case? Yes — and no. Yes — 34 GPT-3 applications for content creation display. Yet you can see dozens of different uses for this form of AI. There’s also more to AI than the GPT-3 platform by itself.

You can stumble down the rabbit hole of various (and cool) AI applications — sure. Check out what I found when playing around with some of these applications. But I am currently in between contracts and have time on my hands. What if deadlines are crushing you, and work demands mean AI playtime isn’t a possibility? It would help if you had pragmatic solutions to make your life easier.

So it is straightforward to get thoroughly carried away with the weird and beautiful applications that AI presents. Savvy software developers consider their access to AI in a raw form, then tailor it in intelligent and profitable ways. I liken it to mining diamonds; the raw AI access is your rough diamond. With clever and targeted development, this raw AI polishes into a fine diamond. Organisations everywhere have various needs, and their bank accounts are ready to spend on fine diamonds.

What are some of these fine diamonds? Bespoke applications for recruitment, using AI to detect bias and look for applicants exhibiting particular characteristics. Other applications may serve a more prosaic yet valuable function, such as Otter.ai for transcribing what people say in meetings. But what about the use of AI for excellence communications and creative approaches within the business realm?

So here it is: Synthesia.io.

I subscribe to a variety of newsletters across several domains. These domains include marketing and branding agencies, user experience consulting firms and a whole host of other organisations. One of my sources alerted me to a beautiful AI application called Synthesia.io. Nope, I am not affiliated with Synthesia — just a curious change professional trying it out to see if it works for me. Synthesia lets you work with synthetic humans to create professional videos.

Synthesia.io allows you to turn a text script into a polished video presented by a professional actor in just minutes. You can trial this functionality for free on their site. I tried the $30 US monthly subscription and wasn’t disappointed. My subscription gave me access to over 40 avatars to choose from. These avatars are essentially deep fakes of pre-recorded actors. You can enter what you want your chosen avatar to say… then click “Generate”. You have a professionally recorded actor saying precisely what you want them to convey. It takes a few minutes for your video to render. Once your video is ready, you can easily download it.

Here is the first video I made — is this a decent introduction to my online course in Change Management?

These avatars look pretty realistic, and one impressive feature is the range of accents available. As I am from Australia, I wanted my avatars to have an Aussie accent. Within no time at all, I produced 11 brief videos using a range of avatars and accents. The finished product looks professional, and I dare say it is slightly disturbing to see how realistic each avatar is.

Can deep fakes help your communications, training and overall change management?

As a practising organisational change manager, I can see a considerable benefit in rapidly spinning up several polished videos like these. My monthly subscription gives me about ten full minutes of video content.

You may not need your Synthesia.io avatars to speak at every point in your video. I find these avatars helpful in breaking up the monotony of one person’s voice and visage. You can easily craft professional-looking promotional videos as part of your communications campaign. This is especially helpful if you are not comfortable using your voice for your voice-over. Even if you are comfortable in using your face and voice in a presentation, there is still the concern of lighting and background to be considered. I am not entirely comfortable in recording myself (to promote my book or my company). Sometimes it is due to lighting issues or people being distracted by what’s on my bookshelf behind me.

There is also the reality that I am aware of: I have a head for radio, not television. As many Aussies say: I have a head like a dropped meat pie. Yet here is an easier way to project a professional image, as this example shows:

When I work on a contract for a client, I am happy to lend my voice. Even so, many factors detract from the quality of your voice work. For instance, if you are tired — that 6 am gym session may give you greater energy levels in the long term but may not be advisable if you plan to record audio later. It also takes effort to get the right tone and energy levels in your voice.

In contrast, when I produced my 11 Synthesia videos after buying my monthly subscription, none of these factors was an issue whatsoever. If I had a spare $1000 US lying around, I could even create my custom avatar. How terrifying — a permanent, malleable deep fake 43-year old version of Allan Owens at your command.

“Sorry, boss, it’s almost ready!” Applying AI to pragmatic business stuff

I believe this form of AI application is going to be a game-changer for business communication professionals everywhere. Could this application entice project leaders who need to spin up polished messages for their constituents? Without a doubt, training, communications and change professionals everywhere could start threading these deep fake outputs from Synthesia.io today.

In conjunction with other tools such as Vyond, you can have promotions or training content at a similar level as a professional agency yet with minimal skills and a fraction of the cost. Here’s an example of Vyond:

With Synthesia, I could import an existing Microsoft PowerPoint file as a background template and have my avatar perched in the corner of my presentation — or upfront and centre. Alternatively, I could make a new video without any PowerPoint background.

I then type my script and choose an accent. There is a range of realistic accents available, and I can hear what my avatar sounds like before deciding to generate my video. The user interface is relatively straightforward, and I have only just started to play around with various options available.

But rather than wax lyrical about this application — see some of these videos for yourself. I wanted a brief video covering each principal from my recent publications, including The Change Manager’s Companion book and a separate online course.

The deep fake looks quite realistic. Some of the avatars look slightly nervous, and occasionally the lip sync is slightly off. Even so, this application of AI is a boon for business communication professionals everywhere.

So Synthesia is useful. What about the potential future of AI in business?

I worked for a media organisation recently. It was a wonderful experience to wander past news studios. The energy and professionalism of everyone involved in the news studio: impressive. Yet, a part of me feels sad when now thinking about the news studio. Could deep fakes automate many newsreaders and evolve the role of news studios?

According to Reuters, AI applies to newsrooms in three ways:

1. News gathering
2. News production
3. News distribution

Could AI provide the “script” using automated news-gathering techniques… then feed this “script” into a deep fake presenter? This may especially apply to data-intensive aspects of media, such as weather reports.

Similarly, could AI tools automate certain aspects of organisational change? Could AI tools mine enterprise social networks (including an organisation’s email content)? If so, AI could tease out:

1. What proportion of people is aware of an impending change?
2. What is the sentiment/perception of a given change? (Don’t laugh — tools already mine and scrape Tweets to analyse sentiment and perceptions about various topics)
3. Where people get stuck (or enjoy) changes to an employee experience
4. Has change “stuck”? Have employees adjusted to a new way of working?

What are your thoughts? Feel free to reply or comment.

Our book — The Change Manager’s Companion — is available now. You can also check out our online course on Change Management.