Why I Sent My AI Avatar to a Board Meeting
- contact352371
- Oct 14
- 3 min read
From my initial skepticism to a real-world test, here’s the story of how a challenge in medical education led me to send my digital twin to a meeting I couldn't miss.
Recently, I was on a flight while my AI Avatar was presenting on my behalf at the inaugural meeting for the RACS Advisory Group on AI in Surgery. This is something I never thought I’d do. For a long time, I was skeptical of creating a hyper-realistic version of myself, but a specific challenge changed my mind, leading to this unexpected and fascinating real-world test.
My Initial Hesitation with Realistic AI Avatars
Like many, I was initially hesitant. The discourse around "deepfakes" is rightly focused on the potential for misuse. The risk of the "uncanny valley," where avatars look realistic but feel subtly wrong, was another concern. My work is built on authentic communication, and I worried that an avatar could create a barrier rather than a connection. I decided I wouldn't create one unless I found a truly powerful, ethical, and positive use case.
The Turning Point: Making Essential Medicine Engaging
That use case arrived from an unexpected place: the challenge of teaching medical students. How do you transform a traditionally "dry" but medically essential topic—like geriatric incontinence—into an engaging and scalable learning tool? Students are overwhelmed with dense lectures, and their time is precious.
The solution became clear: an AI Avatar could deliver a perfectly articulated, high-quality lecture, free from filler words or fatigue. It could be updated instantly as new research emerges and, crucially, could be translated into dozens of languages to serve as a global educational resource. The potential to improve medical education was the turning point that convinced me of the profound good this technology could achieve.
The Real-World Test: The RACS Meeting
Having built the avatar for this educational purpose, a new opportunity arose. I was deeply honoured to be appointed to the new RACS Advisory Group on AI in Surgery. However, the first meeting was scheduled at the exact time I was booked on a flight.
It was the perfect test. Instead of simply sending my apologies, I could use the very technology the group was formed to discuss. I created a two-minute introduction, delivered by my AI Avatar.
The Broader Potential of AI Avatars
This experience crystallized my thinking on the power of this technology beyond just a single meeting. The advantages are immense:
For the Individual: It's a powerful tool for accessibility. You can create a professional, high-energy presentation when you're travelling, in a noisy environment, or even when you're unwell or have lost your voice. It helps overcome camera shyness and removes the need for expensive home studio equipment.
For the Organization: The benefits in consistency and scale are transformative. A single, perfectly crafted message can be deployed globally in multiple languages. Training materials can be updated in minutes, not days. It ensures every member of your audience receives the same high-quality, clear communication, free from "death-by-PowerPoint."
For the Audience: The clarity is a major benefit. For neurodiverse audiences, a presentation with consistent pacing and no filler words can be much easier to process. It ensures the core message is delivered efficiently and effectively.
The Ethical Foundation
Of course, this power comes with responsibility. My work with avatars is guided by two unwavering principles: the technology must only be used with explicit and enthusiastic consent, and the audience must always be informed that they are watching an AI. Transparency is non-negotiable.
This is how we navigate the AI era—by openly discussing, experimenting, and showcasing the incredible potential of these tools to do good.
The article shares the author's experience of sending an AI avatar to a board meeting while she was on a flight, showing how surprisingly effective and lifelike it was. It highlights the potential of AI avatars to enhance productivity and accessibility when used responsibly.
A brilliant demonstration of how technology, when guided by purpose and ethics, can expand our reach without compromising authenticity. Using an AI avatar to attend the RACS AI in Surgery meeting is not just innovative—it’s inspirational. This is the future of accessibility, education, and equity. Thank you for leading by example and showing that tech can serve humanity without replacing it.