With more powerful hardware and software, the increasingly complex computations of computers are making things that weren't possible before, possible.
When OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, it quickly captivated the tech world. Thanks to its ability to do a wide range of tasks, including writing poetry, technical papers, novels, and essays, the talkative chatbot has since become a viral sensation on the web and beyond.
These abilities weren't found in any previous single AI iteration.
As ChatGPT gets updated to GPT-4, it continues to boggles the mind. It sent competitors scrambling for solutions, and successfully disrupted the AI sphere.
There is one thing though, ChatGPT is a chatbot, meaning that it lacks a presentation.
It doesn't have a face.
Until Annie is introduced.
Animato.AI is a developer that creates avatar camera app for videochats and live-streaming. Its product allows custom avatars for users on both iOS and macOS.
This time, it jumped into the generative AI bandwagon by introducing a face to ChatGPT.
With 'Call Annie', the developer is allowing users to talk face-to-face with a red-haired, hazel-eyed woman avatar.
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To give Annie a presence, Animato has even created Annie her own social media profiles.
The first impression using Call Annie is that, interactions with Annie feels very much like a normal chat with a human being, except for the slightly robotic delivery and occasional odd pronunciation.
And because it's powered by ChatGPT, Annie should share similar traits like other ChatGPT-powered tools and apps.
This allows Annie to help users with everything from learning and web searches to serving as a tour guide or even a virtual companion.
But this also means, some of her answers can be vague and generic, and sometimes, she may also hallucinate and say things she shouldn't.
But what's important top note here is that, Call Annie is giving a "face" to a bot.
This way, interactions with the OpenAI product can feel more lifelike, and of course, a lot more appealing.
The experience of talking to Annie can be more exhilarating than using ChatGPT’s website.
Users can interact with Annie through phone by calling +1 640 225 5726, or though video call using the Call Annie app.
Initially, Call Annie is available on users using iOS 16 and above, on iPhone 12 and newer.
It's reported that Call Annie can also be used on macOS 13 machines with an M-series processor inside.
For those privacy-concerned users, it's worth noting that Animato’s App Store description notes that the AI keeps all conversations "confidential." However, the developer doesn't detail what kind of security measures have been put in place and whether it uses the user conversations for training and refining Annie’s systems.
Regardless, the developer mentioned that no users' voice record is saved, and that only the "transcription is saved/forwarded to ChatGPT to get all the dialogue."
The developer also stresses that they don’t sell any user data to third parties and that users can delete the web search history in the app at their own convenience.
It's also worth noting that Call Annie is the successor of an AI named Call Samantha, also created by Animato. According to some Call Annie users, Annie may at times refer to herself as Samantha and not Annie because the two allegedly shared the same training materials.