A beloved Christmas tradition just got a high-tech twist. IF artificial intelligence finds its place in almost all aspects of our daily livesHe steered towards the North Pole. Startup of artificial intelligence tavus made a realistic copy To Sinterklaasand you can video chat with him. When you try AI Santa for the first time, you have three minutes to chat before you’re prompted to create a free account to continue.
“Hey, it’s Santa. What’s on your wish list? Let’s see if you’ve been naughty or nice,” the AI asked Santa during my first visit.
Later in the conversation, AI Santa said to me, “You seem comfortable and relaxed.”
In this way, the AI seems to emphasize that it can see you through your webcam (if you allow it) and read your body language. This makes the experience a little more like talking to a real person, although it seemed a little robotic to me, especially since Santa’s AI said it twice.
Other clues that it wasn’t a real person (aside from the giant word “AI Santa” behind the video call) were the long pauses between questions. If your AI interrupts the plot mid-sentence, it will take at least five to ten seconds to recover.
“A break from the North Pole is just what I needed,” AI Santa once said. “Mrs. Claus keeps me busy making sure I eat enough cookies and rest before the big night, but I always enjoy taking the time to talk to someone as nice as you. What’s new with you? What’s going on in your world?”
At first it seemed like Santa’s AI was trying to convince me it was Santa himself, but it turns out that when asked directly, it actually makes a clear difference.
“Are you the real Santa?” I asked, thinking that every child who encountered Tavu’s artificial intelligence, Santa Claus, would ask the same thing.
“I’m a very special Santa Claus, with artificial intelligence, created to bring some Christmas magic to people around the world,” he replied. “I’m not a physical Santa, but I am a friendly and festive representative of the Christmas spirit. I’m here to chat.”
Lay people? SHOULD SHE GO?
So we talk. It went well for the most part, but like everyone else. Generative AI Creative people can (and often do) make mistakes. At one point in the conversation I mentioned that my brother wanted Lego for Christmas.
Santa’s answer? “LEE-GO them? I don’t know them.” But in a separate conversation, Santa’s AI explained the correct pronunciation of Lego and waxed poetic about how special it was to make something with “those little bricks.”
And like any good robot elf, he also made a few nods to technology.
“There is a lot of activity at the North Pole,” AI Santa said. “The elves work overtime to build and package all the toys. We have teams of elves who specialize in different areas, like toy making, cookies and even tech support, to make sure all our systems run smoothly.”
Hopefully this means I won’t have to worry about my WiFi being cut off this Christmas.