Mini Is Using A Bizarre Interactive AI Tool To Hawk Its EV

AI is becoming more and more popular these days. Programs like ChatGPT seem to have opened the floodgates, and now companies are looking for new and weird ways to implement the tool in their own businesses. The folks at Mini have come up with a pretty unique use for an AI program capable of mimicking a person's voice and appearance — though it's not the first time we've seen something like this. From today, the automaker is using AI to help people talk themselves into buying a car. 

The car in question is the Mini Cooper SE, a small electric vehicle with a price tag starting at around $30,000. If you have doubts or concerns about things like the vehicle's range and affordability — or if you're unsure about the need for a third car (which is a market Mini has been targeting for a while now) — then the AI is happy to quell your fears while borrowing your face. It's a bit like a digital version of Buffalo Bill from "Silence of the Lambs," if Buffalo Bill was oddly enthusiastic about supercompact EVs with strong ties to Great Britain. 

You can find the "Minilogue" experience, along with more info on the vehicle, in a new section of the Mini USA website. It's the kind of quirky, fun marketing Mini has become known for over the last few years, and is reflective of how it wants you to see the vehicle itself. Have fun with it, don't take it seriously, and embrace what would have been considered a steep descent into madness not too long ago.

The Mini experience uses a warped version of your own voice to convince you it's time to buy one of the small vehicles. At the start, you're asked to turn on your device's camera and microphone before lining your head up with a small box. You're then given a line of dialogue to read. Doing all of this gives the program the information it needs to create a digital version of you. This digital version will look like you and sound a bit like you, albeit with a deeper voice. Mini says it's made everything a little bit deeper to truly recreate those "voice in your head" vibes. It's worth pointing out that while the AI does clone both your appearance and voice, it doesn't take any of your memories or any aspects of your personality. Instead, it has around 21 lines, each of which gives you a reason you should roll the dice on a fun little car.

Mini

If things get busy, the generation process will take a while. If you haven't got time to hang around, an option eventually pops up, allowing users to simply leave an email address and have an AI-generated video sent to them when the process is done. This is the same video you would see during — and will be able to download at the end of — the chat. The people at Mini have formatted it for easy sharing on social media, so you can show your friends this odd little ad concept. You also have plenty of options these days if you do want to share it with your pals on social media.