Add ByteDance to the list of companies that are envisioning AI avatars as the future of creator-fan interactions. Douyin — ByteDance’s Chinese counterpart to TikTok — has launched an initiative called the V Project, which includes a robust feature set dedicated to the development of AI-generated creator lookalikes.

Creators who develop AI chatbots via V will be able to outsource fan interactions to those avatars. AIBase noted that the chatbots will be able to interface with fans 24/7 while also participating in group chats, live streams, and comment conversations. The avatars are developed via Doubao, a large language model under the ByteDance umbrella.

The avatars created through V sound a lot like the ones American tech companies are developing in tandem with their respective creator communities. Meta has led that charge, first by creating chatbots that resemble celebrities and then by bringing a Creator AI program to Instagram. Google has suggested that...