NZ woman becomes AI clone for advertising campaign

A New Zealand telecommunications company Skinny has chosen a loyal customer as the first-ever AI brand ambassador.

Skinny selected Liz Wright, 64, from Northland's Bay of Islands in an open nationwide casting in which hundreds of people participated.

For 11 weeks, a creative team captured Wright's voice, facial expressions and personality to create a digital clone that authentically represents her, the company said in a statement.

In the first video, the Wright clone is seen acting as a news presenter, sliding down a slide and flying through the air, while a notice flags that the content was created with AI.

Skinny claims the campaign is a world first, resulting in a "highly realistic" version of Wright capable of delivering new advertising messages without the need for filming every time.

Wright, a former telecoms engineer and client of the brand for 12 years who has a son who works in AI, will be the commercial image of Skinny for the next two years and will receive unlimited mobile credit for life in addition to a talent fee.

"This isn't about replacing real people with AI; in fact, we still rely heavily on the real Liz and the amazing humans who helped bring AI Liz to life, and we're also guided by our principles of AI," said Skinny chief marketing officer Matt Bain.

Wright "will embark on her first and last nationwide media tour, sharing her story as the world's first customer to become an AI-created brand ambassador before 'retiring' and handing (some of) the reins over to her AI clone," a company statement concludes.