The social competence to interact appropriately and meaningfully with other people is essential for daily life in society. This competence involves aspects such as the ability to communicate with others or solve problems with them. Furthermore, it is a transversal competence subject to ever-increasing demands due to the transformation of daily life by digital technologies.
Virtual humans connected to an artificial intelligence (AI) or a large language model (LLM) could be particularly suitable for fostering communication skills. These AI-based humans can communicate fluently with real humans and imitate different persons with previously defined characteristics. However, this raises the question of whether verbal communication with such AI humans can simulate communication with real people in a realistic and natural way.
We are therefore developing AI-driven virtual humans and investigating scientifically whether it is possible to practise realistic and natural conversations with them. The prototype below represents our first AI human — try speaking with it directly online.
This project is a cooperation with the University of Bern.
