Sony Pictures brings AI-driven movie character to social media

Dive Brief:

Sony Pictures Releasing International and artificial intelligence agency IV.AI have partnered to create an AI-driven version of the Red Queen from the upcoming Resident Evil: The Final Chapter film, according to a joint press release.
The AI character will appear as a chatbot across messaging apps and social media in multiple languages allowing fans to interact with the virtual Red Queen. Facebook users can chat with the character on Facebook Messenger and Russian users can use Telegram.
"As digital marketers and filmmakers, our goal is to find new ways to push the boundaries of emerging technologies in entertainment IP," said Sony Pictures EVP of International Marketing Sal Ladestro in the release. "Seeing the power of artificial intelligence collaborating with talented scriptwriters and filmmakers is just the beginning."

Dive Insight:

AI technology is increasingly providing marketers with new capabilities and messaging opportunities. Under-the-hood, so to speak, AI tech will help automate processes from ad buying and creation to campaign personalization and optimization. And with chatbot technology, such as is being deployed by Sony and IV.AI for the virtual Red Queen, early limitations are continuing to improve so brands can increasingly automate basic customer service functions while providing a positive user experience.

For example, the Red Queen's character's personality from the films, which is dismissive, has been embedded in the chatbot experience to provide a more genuine interaction. Using IV.AI's technology, the experience was created using Resident Evil scripts for a customized interaction.

Some brands have adopted chatbots for engaging customers, such as Geico’s recently released “Kate,” a virtual assistant for its app, although others have pulled out of the market, such as Yahoo’s recent decision to drop its Yahoo Radar travel assistant after only six months. Tech roll outs like this effort with the virtual Red Queen will only help strengthen the chatbot space on the tech end, as well as get more of the public used to interacting with bots.

The #ChallengeTheRedQueen experience went live yesterday for fans in the U.S., Australia, United Kingdom, Spain, Mexico and Russia.