TikTok AI avatars

TikTok has revealed new AI tools that will help content creators add a human touch to their content, and reach a wider, global audience.

What are TikTok’s new AI tools?

Symphony digital avatars: TikTok has launched custom and stock avatars that creators can use to “add a human touch” to their content. They can choose to create their own, custom avatars to represent themselves or their brand, or they can choose from a range of pre-built “stock” avatars that replicate (paid) actors from a range of backgrounds, nationalities, and languages, and can be used for commercial purposes.

Symphony AI dubbing: This is a “global translation tool” that automatically picks up the language in a TikTok video, and translates it into one of 10 languages, producing a dubbed video, to help creators enter new, different language, global markets.

Why has TikTok launched these AI tools?

These new AI tools are an addition to the recently launched TikTok Symphony, which is a suite of creative AI tools designed to help TikTok’ers write ad scripts, produce videos, and improve assets. Head of Creative Product, Andy Yang believes that the avatars will "unlock a new avenue for creators to scale their opportunities with brands globally", unlocking language barriers and adding a “human touch” where real actors, models, or presenters can’t be used.

Potential pitfalls

Although these tools offer creators an opportunity to expand, globally, they do need to be careful that the Symphony AI dubbing tool doesn’t produce embarrassing misinterpretations that could damage their ‘brand’. They also need to question, as people complain of ad burnout on platforms like TikTok, whether using avatars is the right move.