You like science fiction? Star Wars. Star Trek. My Little Pony. He-Man, Masters of the Universe. It’s all fun and games and appeals to our sense of fantasy with some healthy dashes of speculative technology, stuff that can make us dream of how it could be in the future.
To this day, I still want a pair of those cool sneakers Marty McFly wore from Back to the Future II (not to mention the ultra-cool hoverboard).
There’s just one question: does this kind of space-age technology benefit businesses? Can auto attendants and call centers be even better in 3-D or a virtual world, for instance? Do laser blasters benefit a CEO? Or can teleportation devices increase productivity for business meetings?
This App Called “My CyberTwin” May Come Close to It (But Not Close Enough)
It’s nifty, to be honest.
This is an online service, you’ll find, devoted to providing essentially a real-life intelligent human being online. Think of it as a virtual you. Now we’re getting into a whole “Matrix” thing — Keanu Reeves, watch out. There is no spoon.
All joking aside, it’s a pretty cool technology many individuals would get jazzed up about. And for individuals, it’s basically free. For a business account, you’re looking at one month free and then $25 per month after that. Worth the cost? I guess it depends….
First off, this is pretty high-tech and impressive. It’s commonly called “chatbox technology,” but the general computer technological term would be TTS and STT — Text to Speech and Speech to Text, also known as “Siri” capability.
This is a type of technology that can live in just about any environment — web site chatrooms, social media, mobile devices, video games, virtuality, MSN. It’s a separate client, basically, sort of like those chat windows where you can talk to a live person on chat. However, no one’s live here — it’s an automated digital version of someone (and if tailored custom right by My CyberTwin, it can be an actual video version of a live human being!) practically talking to you (if you purchase the more updated custom quoted “Enterprise” package, offering the whole audio thing).
It’s insane! To make it crazier, this is a type of “artificial intelligence” that can adapt. Yes, like science fiction scary robots ready to destroy the planet for personal gain.
In other words, as you ask the Cyber Twin questions, the Twin adapts to your needs based on the questions asked. The more questions you ask and information you provide, the more answers and more information the Twin can offer in return. It’s a sort of learn-as-you-go type of intelligence, which is pretty unheard of in technology today.
Generally, you’re looking at something completely infallible here. When it comes to customer service, if a potential client hits your company web site and has a few questions — even if the client is in a very seriously bad mood — this Cyber Twin can handle all of it perfectly!
Businesses can also train their Cyber Twins to answer certain questions. Think of this as a digital version of a FAQ page on a web site. It’s more personal, more customer-friendly, has a flavor of customer relations added.
Let’s Be Fair Here, Though….
You can test this sort of thing, and to be honest, human conversation goes well beyond the scope of what someone, or even the Cyber Twin itself, can adapt to. In other words, there are times when the Cyber Twin can say some pretty retarded things! Typically, it’s because the Twin doesn’t understand the question. A business would obviously have to spend quite a bit of time training the Twin 
on just about anything possible that could come up.
Is it worth the time? Maybe, maybe not. To be fair, though, the Cyber Twin feels like the amenity in a hotel room called the “hot tub whirlpool.” Sure, it’s cool, it’s luxurious, it’s high-profile, but is it necessary like the less glamorous ironing board for your 3-piece suit? Maybe not. For the cost, it may even seem to be a waste of money if the questions can be handled by a normal human being and not one made of pixels on the screen.
It All Depends on the Business
Still, it’s an interesting look into the science fiction-y future! Really, it all depends on the company’s needs. Paying an assistant to answer questions might actually be a lot more expensive than paying $25 a month for a digital someone to do it for you. But to have it done right? To establish the rapport of customer relations relying on real-life human interaction? That’s priceless.
However, if it works, if it’s all that’s needed for the business, you might want to go for it! After all, talk about the fun comments you’d get for having He-Man as your personal Cyber Twin answering questions about motorcycle insurance and boat accident insurance for you.
Sort of gives you an edge, doesn’t it?