What Is an AI Character?
The way brands communicate with people online has changed. A company website is no longer just a place to list products and contact information. Social media is not simply a publishing channel either. For many businesses, the expectation now is that people should be able to interact with the brand.
That is one reason AI characters are getting more attention.
The concept is not as complicated as it may sound. An AI character is a digital persona that represents a brand, company, sports team, game, or other intellectual property. Unlike a basic chatbot, it can be given a personality and a particular way of communicating.
It can also work with information supplied by the organization and use the context of a conversation when responding.
For brands and IP owners, this creates a different kind of digital experience. Instead of simply presenting information to an audience, the brand can give people a way to interact with it.
Standard Chatbots vs. AI Characters
Traditional chatbots are still useful for certain jobs.
If a customer wants to find a shipping policy or locate a return form, a simple automated system can usually point them in the right direction. Many of these systems are built around predefined rules and responses. A particular word or phrase triggers a particular answer.
The limitations become obvious when the conversation does not follow the expected path.
A customer might ask a question in an unusual way, add another question to the same message, or ask for advice that was never included in the original chatbot’s decision tree. At that point, the system may have little to offer beyond sending the person back to a menu.
AI characters are designed with a broader type of conversation in mind.
They use large language models (LLMs) and can be provided with information specific to the organization they represent. Rather than responding only to individual keywords, they can consider the conversation as a whole.
That opens up considerably more room for interaction.
A sports character could discuss a team’s history or talk with fans about a recent game. An ecommerce character could help a customer compare products. A character created for a gaming IP could discuss the world, characters, and story surrounding the game.
The personality is another important part of the experience. The character can have its own voice, tone, attitude, and background instead of sounding like a generic automated support tool.
For comparison:
Traditional Chatbot: “I don’t understand. Please click a button.”
AI Character: “Makes sense. Here is what I’d recommend based on what you told me…”
The distinction is less about whether both systems can answer questions and more about how the interaction takes place.
The Core Ingredients of an AI Character
There are several components behind the experience. When a brand creates an AI character using a platform such as Helika Evolve, three areas are particularly important.
- The Persona (Voice & Style): The persona gives the character its identity. This includes its tone, personality, attitude, and backstory. A character representing a sports team might be enthusiastic and competitive. One representing a skincare brand could take a more measured and informative approach.
- The Knowledge Base (Brain): The character needs dependable information. A company can provide material such as product specifications, approved company information, game lore, or brand history. This gives the organization a way to establish what the character should know and what information it should use when interacting with people.
- Persistent Memory: Memory can make the interaction feel less like a series of disconnected conversations. If someone has already interacted with the character on a website or through Discord, relevant information can potentially be retained for a later conversation. A returning user can then continue the experience rather than starting from scratch.
Where Do These Characters Actually Live?
An AI character does not need to be confined to a website chat box. The technology can be used wherever the brand already has an audience.
- Community Hubs: Discord for example is a natural place for characters that are designed around communities. They can answer questions, welcome new members, participate in discussions, or host activities such as trivia.
- Social Media: On X (formerly Twitter), an AI character can interact with followers and join relevant conversations. Its established personality gives those interactions some consistency.
- E-Commerce Stores: For online retailers, an AI character can be available while someone is shopping. A customer comparing products might ask for help, or someone unsure about sizing could get an answer before placing an order.
- Web Portals & Apps: A character can also be built into a company’s website or mobile app. In that environment, it can help users find information or provide another way to interact with the brand.
This also means the experience does not have to be tied to a single digital property. A brand can potentially bring the same character into several channels and meet people where they already spend time.
Why Brands Are Making the Switch
There is plenty of interest in AI because the technology itself is developing quickly. For brands, though, there is a more practical question to consider: What can people actually do with it?
That question matters because digital audiences have become difficult to hold.
People scroll past advertisements. Promotional emails compete for attention in crowded inboxes. Social posts can disappear from view almost immediately. Even when a brand has something worthwhile to say, there is no guarantee that someone will stop long enough to engage with it.
An AI character changes the interaction.
Someone shopping online can ask a question rather than search through several product pages. A sports fan can have a conversation about a team between games. A player can ask about a game’s characters or storyline. The person on the other side is choosing to participate rather than simply receiving another piece of marketing.
The reason for deploying an AI character will depend on the organization.
An ecommerce company might use one to make product discovery easier. A sports organization could use one to maintain fan activity during quieter periods of the season. A gaming company may see an opportunity to extend its IP beyond the game itself.
There is no single use case that applies to every brand.
What makes the technology interesting is the underlying change in the relationship between the audience and the brand. Instead of publishing something and hoping people respond, the brand can create a digital experience where people have an opportunity to start the conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an AI character?
- An AI character is a digital persona powered by artificial intelligence that represents a particular brand, company, community, or IP. It can be given its own personality, voice, knowledge, and memory and can interact with people through digital channels.
How does an AI character differ from a traditional chatbot?
- Traditional chatbots generally depend on predefined responses, menus, and rules. AI characters use large language models to understand the context of a conversation and generate more flexible responses. They can also be configured with a particular personality and knowledge base.
Where can brands deploy AI characters?
- AI characters can be deployed across a range of digital channels, including Discord, X (Twitter), ecommerce websites, web portals, and custom applications. The appropriate channel depends on the audience and the role the character is expected to play.