Eric Yuan is working on a “digital twin technology” that could make attending meetings and answering emails a thing of the past
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Eric Yuan
Endless meetings, overflowing email inboxes, and other annoying work-related problems could be a thing of the past if Zoom’s CEO has his way.
Eric Yuan and his team at the cloud-based video conferencing platform are working on a “digital twin technology” that would allow workers to clone themselves and have those avatars participate in meetings and other time-consuming aspects of work life.
“I can send a digital version of myself to join in so I can go to the beach,” Yuan, 54, told The Verge.
However, the implementation of the new technology depends entirely on the advances in artificial intelligence, the CEO told the magazine.
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“Today, we all spend a lot of time talking on the phone, attending meetings, sending emails, deleting spam, responding to text messages. We’re still very busy,” Yuan said. “How do we use AI, how do we use Zoom Workplace to completely automate this kind of work? That’s something that’s very important to us.”
He added: “You don’t have to spend so much time (in meetings). You don’t have to do five or six Zoom calls every day. You can use AI for that.”
A representative for Zoom did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Yuan acknowledged that the “boring” aspects of corporate work could be abandoned and that the new initiative could have a revolutionary effect on work-life balance.
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“Why don’t you spend more time with your family? Why don’t you focus on more creative things, give back with your time, give back to the community and society, help others, right?” he said.
As for the timeline, Yuan said it all depends on the progress of AI.
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“I think the most important thing is that AI is not there yet right now and it will be some time,” he told the outlet. “Let’s say that five or six years down the line, AI is there. AI can probably help with 90 percent of the work, but as far as real-time interaction goes, we’re talking online today.”
He added: “So, I can send my digital version – you can send your digital version.”
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However, the CEO pointed out that there is one thing that AI cannot replace in the workplace: face-to-face contact with people.
“When I stop by your office, I hug you and you shake my hand, right? I don’t think AI can replace that,” he continued. “We still need face-to-face interaction. That’s very important. Say you and I are sitting together in a Starbucks near you and having a very intimate conversation – AI can’t do that either.”
However, Yuan added: “I think we will get there in a few years, but we are only at the beginning.”
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