How to Create AI Avatars (Digital Twins)
Meet your digital spokesperson that never sleeps, never gets sick, and can be in multiple places at once.
WORD OF THE DAY: AI AVATARS (a.k.a. Digital Twins)
AI avatars, also called digital twins, are photorealistic digital replicas of real people created using artificial intelligence. These avatars can look, sound, and even behave like their human counterparts, capable of speaking multiple languages, appearing in videos, and conducting conversations, all without requiring the original person to be present.
Why Business Owners Should Care:
Think of AI avatars as your digital spokesperson that never sleeps, never gets sick, and can be in multiple places at once. Here’s what makes them powerful:
24/7 availability: Your avatar can host meetings, create content, or engage customers while you sleep
Scalability: One recording session creates an avatar that can produce unlimited content
Multilingual reach: Speak to global audiences in their native languages even if you don’t speak it
Time savings: CEOs report spending 72% of their time in meetings, avatars can handle some of these
Real-World Impact:
Zoom’s CEO Eric Yuan used his AI avatar to deliver quarterly earnings call comments
Klarna’s CEO sent his digital twin to speak during financial updates
H&M created digital twins of 30 models for marketing campaigns, with models retaining full ownership rights
Malaysian creator Bella Khann (1.4M TikTok followers) uses her avatar for 24/7 live commerce streams
The Bottom Line: AI avatars aren’t about replacing humans—they’re about extending your reach and reclaiming your time. While you focus on strategy and relationship-building, your digital twin handles the repetitive tasks.
TASK OF THE DAY: Create Your First AI Avatar Using HeyGen
Time Required: 5 minutes to record, 30-60 minutes processing
Skill Level: Beginner
What You’ll Need: A webcam and a HeyGen account (free tier available)
Step-by-Step Tutorial:
Step 1: Set Up Your Account
Visit heygen.com and create a free account
HeyGen offers a free tier to test the platform before committing
Step 2: Create Your Avatar Using Webcam
Click “Avatars” in the left menu
Click “Create New”
Select “Instant Avatar” (the webcam option)
That’s it—HeyGen will guide you through a 5-minute recording session
Your webcam will record both your appearance AND your voice in one session, creating your complete digital twin automatically. HeyGen walks you through the entire process step-by-step on screen.
Pro Tip: Sit in a well-lit space (natural light near a window works great) and look directly at your webcam. Speak naturally—you’re just having a conversation with the camera.
Step 3: Processing
HeyGen processes your recording (typically 30-60 minutes)
You’ll receive an email when your avatar is ready
Go grab coffee while AI does the work
Step 4: Create Your First Video
Click “Create” in the left menu
Click “Create a Video → AI Studio”
Select your newly created avatar and select your voice
Type or paste your script into the text box on the left
Need help writing a script? Use ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini to generate one. Example prompt: “Write a 30-second script introducing my consulting business that helps small businesses implement AI solutions.”
Choose your background and any visual elements
Click “Generate” and watch your avatar deliver your message
Download or share directly from HeyGen
What You Can Do With Your Avatar:
Training Videos: Create unlimited training content without filming each time
Customer Onboarding: Personalized welcome videos for new clients
Social Media Content: Daily posts without daily filming
Email Campaigns: Video messages that feel personal but scale infinitely
Multilingual Marketing: Speak to customers in 40+ languages
Internal Communications: Company updates and announcements
Remember: Start with internal use (team updates, training videos) before rolling out customer-facing content. Your first avatar might not be perfect, but the technology improves with each HeyGen update, and you’ll quickly learn what works best for your audience.
TOOLS OVERVIEW: HeyGen Training
I attended a two day digital bootcamp from HeyGen where they went over all the cool stuff they can do and how to make the most of it. Luckily, YOU don’t have to spend two days training, just pick the sessions you prefer from the bootcamp videos below. These comprehensive training videos cover every aspect of avatar creation and deployment on HeyGen.
1. Creating Professional Avatars
Learn the fundamentals of recording high-quality avatar footage, including optimal lighting setups, camera positioning, speaking techniques, and how to capture natural expressions that translate well to your digital twin.
2. Perfecting Your AI Voice
Master the art of voice cloning and optimization. This session covers recording clear audio samples, adjusting tone and pacing, matching your natural speaking style, and ensuring your avatar sounds authentically like you across different content types.
3. Streamlining Your Creative Workflow
Discover time-saving techniques for batch-creating content, organizing templates, reusing successful formats, and integrating HeyGen into your existing content production pipeline for maximum efficiency.
4. Editing for Engagement
Deep dive into post-production best practices including adding captions, incorporating B-roll, optimizing video length for different platforms, and using visual elements that keep viewers watching.
5. Scaling Your Message Globally
Unlock international markets by learning how to translate your content into 40+ languages, customize cultural nuances, adapt messaging for different regions, and maintain brand consistency across languages.
6. Personalization and Interactivity
Explore advanced features including variable content (personalized names, company references), interactive elements, dynamic backgrounds, and creating avatar experiences that feel tailored to each viewer.
7. HeyGen for Learning & Development
Specific strategies for training and education applications including employee onboarding videos, compliance training, skill development courses, and knowledge base creation with avatar instructors.
8. HeyGen for Knowledge Businesses
Tailored for coaches, consultants, and educators covering course creation, client deliverables, productizing your expertise, and scaling your knowledge business with avatar-generated content.
9. HeyGen for Agencies
Agency-focused session including client onboarding strategies, white-label solutions, pricing models, portfolio building with avatars, and managing multiple client avatar projects efficiently.
10. HeyGen for Marketing
Marketing-specific applications including social media campaigns, email marketing videos, ad creative development, landing page videos, and measuring avatar content performance across marketing channels.
IN THE NEWS: AI Avatars Making Headlines
1. CEOs Send AI Avatars to Meetings: The New Executive Tool
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan and Klarna’s CEO both used AI avatars to deliver portions of their quarterly earnings calls, with Yuan’s avatar speaking multiple languages to global teams despite him not speaking those languages. Harvard Business School research shows 72% of CEO time is spent in meetings, and avatars help reclaim that time for strategic work. However, experts warn that as employees get used to AI-delivered messages from leadership, they may become more vulnerable to deepfake scams impersonating executives.
Business Lesson: AI avatars work best as amplifiers, not replacements. Use them for scalable communication (company updates, training content) while preserving human connection for strategy, culture-building, and high-stakes decisions.
Sources: Raconteur, TechCrunch
2. H&M Creates Digital Twins of 30 Models—With Full Ownership Rights
H&M partnered with AI provider Uncut to create digital twins of 30 real models for marketing campaigns, but here’s the revolutionary part: the models own all rights to their digital twins and can license them to other brands, including H&M’s competitors. Model Vilma Sjöberg said even her boyfriend couldn’t distinguish between real photos and AI-generated images of her. The move sparked debate about job displacement for photographers, stylists, and other creative professionals, leading New York’s Fashion Workers Act (effective June 2025) to require written consent with clear scope, purpose, payment, and duration for all digital twin usage.
Business Lesson: When implementing avatar technology, prioritize transparency, proper compensation, and clear ownership rights. H&M’s model of giving subjects control over their digital likenesses could become the ethical standard across industries.
Sources: Business of Fashion, Inc.com, CNN
3. 2wai App Faces Backlash Over “Digital Necromancy” Features
Former Disney star Calum Worthy’s AI avatar app 2wai sparked massive controversy with a promotional video showing a pregnant woman conversing with an AI recreation of her deceased mother, accumulating over 40 million views and comparisons to Black Mirror’s “Be Right Back” episode. Critics called it “objectively one of the most evil ideas imaginable,” raising concerns about grief exploitation, consent issues, and whether AI avatars saying things the deceased never would have said amounts to “putting words in their mouth.” Worthy clarified that only living people can create avatars of themselves for future generations, not avatars of already-deceased loved ones, but the damage to the brand reputation was already done.
Business Lesson: When building emotionally charged AI products, excessive caution around consent, transparency, and ethical guardrails is essential. 2wai’s backlash demonstrates that powerful technology without careful ethical framing can damage brand reputation regardless of technical innovation.
Sources: Newsweek, TechRadar, Katie Couric Media
4. Israeli Firm Launches World’s First Digital Twin for Assistive Communication
Israeli AI avatar company D-ID partnered with NVIDIA, Lenovo, ElevenLabs, and Irisbond to launch SMF VoXAI—the world’s first digital twin communication system for people with severe disabilities like ALS and locked-in syndrome. The system uses eye-tracking to capture intended words, AI agents to generate natural speech with emotional tone, and a photorealistic avatar (created from images captured while the user could still move or speak) to deliver messages that preserve the person’s appearance, personality, and dignity. The breakthrough serves over 100 million people worldwide who have conditions limiting their ability to speak.
Business Lesson: The most impactful AI applications solve genuine human problems. D-ID’s success demonstrates that avatar technology’s highest purpose isn’t replacing workers or cutting costs—it’s restoring capabilities and human dignity for those who need it most.
Sources: Jewish News
5. Wearable AI Creates Your Medical Avatar for Predictive Healthcare
Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science created “digital twins” of over 30,000 people using AI to predict future health problems before symptoms appear, finding that 40% of people considered healthy by standard tests showed prediabetic patterns under deeper AI analysis. The system analyzes data from wearables, genetic testing, and medical records to create personalized medical avatars that assign each body system a “biological age” score and can even test treatments virtually before prescribing them to patients. The wearable AI market is projected to exceed $100 billion by 2030, growing at 25% annually.
Business Lesson: Wearable-collected health data combined with AI avatars represents a shift from reactive to predictive healthcare. For businesses in health, fitness, or wellness, understanding this trend is critical as consumers increasingly expect personalized, data-driven health insights.
Sources: Weizmann USA, YNet News
6. Live Commerce Adopts AI Avatars: 24/7 Sales Without Human Hosts
Malaysian creator Bella Khann (1.4M TikTok followers) deployed her AI avatar for 24/7 live commerce streams, while AnyMind’s test with Evian in Thailand achieved a 90% reduction in hourly costs and 200% year-on-year sales increase using avatars for 820 hours versus humans for just 45 hours. However, a tracked Innisfree Thailand stream using only an AI avatar scored just 29 on engagement (top streams exceed 180) with only 17 comments in 8 hours, proving viewers still crave human interaction. China’s new regulations (effective September 2025) require explicit AI content labeling, and platforms like Douyin don’t allow pure AI avatar broadcasts.
Business Lesson: AI avatars excel at extending reach and maintaining presence during off-hours, but human hosts remain essential for building emotional connections and driving engagement. The winning formula is hybrid: humans during prime time, avatars for always-on availability.
Sources: Campaign Asia
THE BIGGER PICTURE: What AI Avatars Mean for Your Business
Three Key Takeaways:
Avatars Are Amplifiers, Not Replacements: The most successful implementations use AI avatars to extend human reach, not eliminate human connection. Zoom executives, H&M models, and live commerce creators all maintain human oversight and involvement.
Ethics and Transparency Are Non-Negotiable: The backlash against 2wai demonstrates that even powerful technology fails without proper ethical framing. Clear consent, transparent labeling, and respect for human dignity must be foundational.
The Technology Is Ready—Are You?: From $50 AI necklaces to enterprise platforms like HeyGen, avatar technology is accessible at every price point. The question isn’t “Can I afford this?” but rather “What will I do with the time I reclaim?”
Questions to Consider:
What tasks consume your time that could be handled by your digital twin?
How would your customers react to interacting with your avatar?
What guardrails do you need to implement for responsible avatar use?
Which markets could you reach with multilingual avatar content?
The avatar revolution isn’t coming—it’s here. The only question is whether you’ll lead the change or watch competitors capture the advantage.
Coming in next newsletter: What the heck does GPT mean and where did that term come from?
Thanks for reading. Have a tool or news story we should cover? Reply to this email.
Excellent practical guide on avatar creation. The distinction between amplifier vs replacement is key because the real value isnt eliminating human presense but extending reach into time zones or languages where you can't physically be. I've experimented with similar tools for async standup videos, and the hardest part is getting natural tone right when the avatar reads scripted text. HeyGen's instant avatar approach is smart since most peole can't handle professional recording setups anyway.