News Summary

In China, AI-powered ‘virtual human’ avatars are revolutionizing the e-commerce landscape by outperforming their real human counterparts. These avatars, developed by Shanghai-based marketing company PLTFRM, are deployed across major e-commerce sites like Alibaba’s Taobao and Pinduoduo. Utilizing AI video models from Baidu and large language models from DeepSeek, these avatars can sell a variety of products, from printers to wet wipes. Brother, a company using these avatars, reported a 30% increase in sales since switching to AI avatars, with one virtual salesperson selling $2,500 worth of printers in just two hours. While these AI avatars are not yet permitted on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, they raise questions about the future of human sales roles in digital marketing. As AI technology continues to improve and become more accessible, the use of virtual humans in social media and e-commerce is likely to expand globally.