The AI company Metaphysic is one of 11 acts competing for $1 million in the “AGT” 2022 finale.
What is Metaphysic on ‘AGT’?
Founded in 2021 by Chris Ume and Tom Graham, Metaphysic is an artificial intelligence, or AI, company that creates “photorealistic AI avatars, animated in real time by singers on stage,” according to the software company Nvidia’s blog.
Metaphysic’s audition, which featured a deepfake of Simon Cowell performing “You’re the Inspiration,” has 20 million views on YouTube. For the semifinal round, Metaphysic put on a performance of the operatic classic “Nessun Dorma,” using AI projections of “AGT” judges Cowell and Howie Mandel, and host Terry Crews.
Cowell called the performance “the best act of the series,” according to USA Today.
“Beautiful singing, the opera was amazing,” “AGT” judge Heidi Klum added, per USA Today. “And then when you swap the faces live right here, the whole thing is epic.”
Metaphysic is now the first AI act to reach the “AGT” finale. For its last performance, Metaphysic switched up genres and put on a medley of Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” and “You’re the Devil in Disguise,” using AI projections of “AGT” judges Klum and Vergara as backup singers/dancers, the Deseret News reported.
“You’re so creative,” Cowell said after the performance, according to USA Today. “You’re gonna have your own show on Vegas. There’s no question.”
“Metaphysic’s history-making run on ‘America’s Got Talent’ has allowed us to showcase the application of AI on one of the most-watched stages in the world,” Graham said, per Nvidia. “Metaphysic’s ‘AGT’ performances provide a front-row seat into how this technology could impact the future of everything, from the internet to entertainment to education.”
Before “AGT,” the company went viral last year for DeepTomCruise, a TikTok channel where actor Miles Fisher animated an AI avatar of Tom Cruise, according to Nvidia.
When is the ‘AGT’ finale?
“AGT” will reveal the 2022 season winner during a two-hour episode that airs Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. MT on NBC.