Soon You’ll Have a Tiny (Fake) Human Friend on Your Phone

According to Cnet, Monday, at CES2020 in Las Vegas (the Consumer Electronics Show), a company funded by Samsung unveiled tiny friends who will live on your phone or your laptop. Or, on a giant screen where they can live as your roommate or employee.

No. Seriously, Samsung Technology and Advanced Research Labs (STAR Labs) calls the Neon project, "a computationally created virtual being that looks and behaves like a real human, with the ability to show emotions and intelligence." They will be chatbots that aren't there to be Alexa or Siri, but to be a virtual human being. STAR Labs says that each "Neon" will have a unique personality. They say, among other things, Neons will someday be virtual receptionists, models, actors and news anchors.

And read this very carefully: Pranav Mistry, Neon CEO and head of STAR Labs says, "There are millions of species on our planet, and we hope to add one more." STAR Labs says it's mission is to "bring science fiction to reality".

I'd say they're on their way.

Here's the story.