A beloved Christmas tradition just got a high-tech twist. As artificial intelligence finds its way into nearly every facet of our daily lives, it’s made its way to the North Pole. AI startup company Tavus has created a life-like AI Santa, and you can have video chats with him. When initially trying out the AI Santa, you have three minutes to chat before being prompted to create a free account to continue.
«Hey, it’s Santa. What’s on your wish list? Let’s see if you’ve been naughty or nice,» AI Santa asked during my initial, uh, visit.
Later in the conversation, AI Santa told me, «You look comfortable and relaxed.»
This seems to be how AI underscores that it can see you through your webcam (if you allow it to) and read your body language. It makes the experience feel a bit more like you’re talking to a real person, even though it came off a bit robotic to me — especially because AI Santa said it twice.
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Other hints that this wasn’t a real person — besides the giant «AI Santa» wording behind the video call — were the long pauses between questions. If you interrupt AI Santa midsentence, it takes at least five to 10 seconds to recover.
«A break from the North Pole is just what I needed,» AI Santa said at one point. «Mrs. Claus is keeping me on my toes, making sure I’m getting enough cookies and rest before the big night, but I’m always happy to take a moment to chat with someone as lovely as you. What’s new with you? What’s been going on in your world?»
Initially, it seemed like AI Santa was trying hard to convince me that it was Santa himself, but it turns out, it does make a clear distinction when asked directly.
«You’re the real Santa?» I asked, assuming that any young children who might stumble across Tavus’s AI Santa would also ask the same thing.
«I’m a very special AI-powered Santa created to bring a little bit of holiday magic to people all around the world,» it replied. «I’m not the physical Santa, but I’m a friendly and festive representative of the spirit of Christmas. I’m here to chat.»
Lego? LEE-GO?
So chat we did. Things flowed nicely for the most part, but like with any generative AI creations, mistakes can (and often do) happen. At one point in the conversation, I mentioned my brother wants Lego for Christmas.
AI Santa’s response? «LEE-GOs? I’m not familiar with those.» In a separate conversation, though, AI Santa got the pronunciation of Lego correct and waxed poetic about how special it is to create with «those little bricks.»
And as any good robot Santa would do, it snuck in a few mentions of tech, too.
«The North Pole is buzzing with activity,» AI Santa said. «The elves are working overtime to build and wrap all the toys. We have teams of elves who specialize in different areas, like toy-making, cookie-baking and even tech support to keep all our systems running smoothly.»
Hopefully, that means I won’t need to worry about a Wi-Fi outage this Christmas.