3.1 Video Artifact Production

The study roughly took the form of an 2x2 test of four synonymous videos. The videos were identical save for their spokesperson – male/female and organic/synthetic.
Two of the videos were created using organic, human spokespersons. Two professional actors were hired to pitch an investment opportunity for a fictitious entrepreneur-owned plant store, Plant Haul, seeking to expand beyond its initial location. One actor was male and the other female, but they were otherwise cast to be within the same general demographic categories (age, ethnicity, general bodily ability, and native spoken language). Filming was completed in a professional studio with a neutral backdrop and with the assistance of camera and sound technicians. The actors spoke from a teleprompter with a script written to be generally persuasive but not overwhelmingly so, so as to allow room for the spokesperson to matter. The actors were given wardrobe to match the wardrobe of the Synthesia avatars and were directed to restrict hand gestures, given that the avatars could not do so at the time of filming.
Clips from the actors’ best takes were edited in with B-roll and titles (on-screen text), in line with modern professional video conventions via professional editing software.
Two videos were then created using Synthesia’s synthetic, AI-powered avatar program. The avatars were chosen to match the general demographics (sex, age, general bodily ability, and ethnicity) and American English voices were chosen from those provided in the Synthesia system. The same script that the organic spokespersons used was inputted into system, which generated both the conversational voice performance and animated the mouth and face of the humanlike avatar. The B-roll and text were edited in within Synthesia’s editing platform to be identical to the organic videos.