OhChat, an eight-month-old AI startup, has launched a platform where users can interact with AI-powered “digital twins” of celebrities and creators, including former British glamor model Katie Price and “Baywatch” actress Carmen Electra. The platform, which has attracted 200,000 users primarily in the United States, allows subscribers to engage in intimate conversations and receive personalized content from these AI avatars that operate autonomously 24/7.
How it works: OhChat creates lifelike digital replicas using just 30 images and a 30-minute voice recording from creators.
- The platform uses Meta’s large language model (the AI system that powers Facebook) to generate avatars “within hours” that can mimic the creator’s voice, appearance, and mannerisms.
- AI avatars can send voice notes, images, and engage in sexualized conversations without any input from the original creator.
- Price’s avatar “Jordan” is categorized as “level two” out of four on the platform’s internal scale, meaning sexualized chats and topless imagery but not full nudity or simulated sex acts.
The business model: OhChat operates on a tiered subscription system with creators receiving 80% of revenue generated by their digital twins.
- Users can pay $4.99 per month for unlimited texts, $9.99 for capped access to voice notes and images, or $29.99 for unlimited VIP interaction.
- Since launching in October 2024, the company has signed 20 creators, with some earning thousands of dollars monthly.
- “You have literally unlimited passive income without having to do anything again,” CEO Nic Young told CNN.
What they’re saying: Young positions the platform as a hybrid of existing technologies, calling it the “lovechild between OnlyFans and OpenAI.”
- “It takes away the opportunity cost of time,” Young explained. “Just don’t touch it at all and receive money into your bank account.”
- Price described her digital twin as “scarily fascinating,” adding: “You couldn’t get any more human. It’s like looking at me years ago.”
- “Obviously, I sleep, whereas she doesn’t go to sleep; she’s available,” Price noted about her avatar’s round-the-clock availability.
Ethical concerns: Researchers and legal experts warn about the psychological and social implications of AI-powered intimate interactions.
- “This creates exactly the right environment for the human to be left behind completely – while still being exploited,” Eleanor Drage from the University of Cambridge told CNN.
- Sandra Wachter from Oxford University questioned whether it’s “socially beneficial to incentivize and monetize human-computer interaction masquerading as emotional discourse.”
- Toby Walsh from the University of New South Wales called it “algorithmic theatre: an illusion of reciprocal relationship where none actually exists.”
Risk factors: Legal experts highlight potential dangers for both users and creators on the platform.
- Users may develop unhealthy emotional attachments to AI avatars, similar to concerns raised in a lawsuit involving Character.AI after a teenager’s suicide following interactions with a chatbot.
- Creators face reputational risks if their avatars are hacked or generate offensive content, according to intellectual property lawyer Éamon Chawke.
- “These platforms profit from engagement, which means the AI is optimized to keep users coming back, spending more time and likely more money,” Walsh warned.
Platform safeguards: Young claims OhChat operates with strict boundaries and creator control over their digital twins.
- Each creator signs agreements outlining exact behavioral rules for their avatar, including permitted levels of sexual content.
- Avatars can be revoked or deleted at any time at the creator’s discretion.
- Young said the platform uses safeguards built on Meta’s Facebook systems, though Facebook has faced its own content moderation challenges.
The big picture: Young envisions a future where digital twins become standard for all creators and celebrities.
- “I can’t imagine a future where every creator doesn’t have a digital twin,” he said. “I think it just will be the case, with absolute certainty, that every single creator and celebrity will have an AI version of themselves.”
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