US-based Filipino-British Natalie Monbiot, a seasoned technology strategist and builder, is at the forefront of a burgeoning field: the virtual human economy. As a founding team member and Head of Strategy at Hour One, she has played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of AI avatars and generative video technologies.
Monbiot’s journey began with a deep-rooted belief in the transformative potential of technology. Her strategic vision has enabled her to identify emerging trends and opportunities, guiding organizations towards future growth. As a leading voice in the industry, she has made a compelling case for the “virtual human economy,” a world where individuals can monetize their virtual selves and lead better lives.
Beyond her role at Hour One, Monbiot is a sought-after advisor to startups, agencies, and media publishers. She has also made significant contributions to the field through her frequent keynote speeches and articles in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and The Information. Her expertise has been recognized with awards like Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech and Cannes Lions Gold.
Monbiot offers a range of services tailored to the needs of businesses in the AI and virtual human economy. She provides strategic guidance to startups, advising them on positioning, partnerships, and growth. For larger corporations and brands, she offers expert consultation on integrating AI and virtual human technology into their strategies. As a thought leader in the field, Monbiot is frequently invited to deliver keynote speeches, sharing her insights on the latest trends and developments. Additionally, she curates strategic gatherings focused on AI to foster collaboration and innovation among industry professionals.
Monbiot’s mission is to ensure that humans remain central to the future of AI and virtual humans. She advocates for a world where these technologies are used to enhance human lives, rather than replace them. Through her work, she strives to bridge the gap between technological advancements and human values.
The Virtual Human Economy: A Brief Overview
The virtual human economy is a rapidly evolving field that involves the creation and use of digital avatars, often referred to as “virtual humans” or “digital twins.” These avatars can be designed to look and act like real people and can be used in a wide range of applications, from customer service to entertainment.
The virtual human economy offers a multitude of benefits. Individuals can create personalized avatars to represent themselves in virtual spaces, fostering a sense of identity and agency. Additionally, virtual humans can automate tasks, freeing up individuals to focus on more meaningful endeavors. For those with disabilities, virtual humans can improve accessibility to various services, breaking down barriers and promoting inclusivity. Moreover, the entertainment industry has embraced virtual humans, integrating them into video games, virtual reality experiences, and other forms of digital media.
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While the virtual human economy holds immense potential, it also presents significant challenges around ethical implications, technical limitations, and economic impact. As these digital avatars become increasingly sophisticated, there is growing concern about their potential misuse, such as spreading misinformation or manipulating individuals. Additionally, technological limitations persist in creating virtual humans that are indistinguishable from real people. Furthermore, the rise of the virtual human economy could have a profound impact on the job market, leading to job displacement in certain industries.
The Independent Investor had a chance to go in-depth with Natalie Monbiot in an exclusive interview to learn more about this rapidly emerging field.
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What inspired you to choose your current career path?
Funnily enough, I never really “chose” a career path, or envisaged belonging to any particular field. I followed my instincts, which were strongly in the direction of, how can we do this differently? How can we surprise and delight? I have also always loved discovering things in their infancy and making it my mission to explore and explain their significance, paint a picture of their real-world implications, and inspire people to come on board. The field of emerging media and technology proved ripe for this.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
The adventure of it. The discoveries, the insights, the people I meet and get to collaborate with. The freedom to explore and produce ideas, and then actually make them happen to manifest that the future already exists.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your industry?
In the virtual human economy, one of the most important challenges is ensuring that human beings are the ones who benefit. For this to happen, it is essential individuals maintain ownership and control of their AI-enhanced human capital. They can put this to work on their behalf to help buy time and create new sources of passive income. This will require updated legislation, innovative solutions for tracking and attributing assets such as creative works, along with new business models and practices.
Could you elaborate on the types of AI applications you have worked on at Hour One or other companies?
They all center on solving a challenge that could not otherwise be solved; or creating new opportunities that had not been thought of before since they were not in the realm of existence. One of my favorites and one of our first at Hour One was helping Berlitz, a 150-year-old language school, to digitally transform. Their classroom method is all about the teacher connection. They needed a way to create tens of thousands of instruction-led videos. After the old-school video capture method proved unmanageable at this scale, they found us. We created eight multilingual AI instructors, and they were able to scale their product to millions more people, while freeing their instructional designers to invest in more creative work.
How do you measure the impact and effectiveness of AI applications on which you have worked? Are there any metrics or key performance indicators you use to evaluate success?
Success in the Virtual Human Economy is measured by how well virtual humans augment human skills and save time, rather than just focusing on efficiencies or incremental metrics like increased engagement (though these follow). For example, a language school can digitally transform at scale by using virtual instructors, freeing up instructional designers to reclaim a full year’s worth of work for reinvestment in more valuable initiatives.
Given the nature of AI and virtual humans, what are your views on the ethical implications of these technologies?
While virtual humans could expand human potential, to be successful we need to trust them. We need to establish consent and control; transparency and provenance; and we need accountability to punish abuse.
In your opinion, what are some of the most promising future trends in AI and virtual humans?
We are still in the first phase of virtual human technology. We are at that point early on in the internet when we thought “doing the internet” was slapping a newspaper homepage on a website. At this stage we had not yet discovered or embraced the native characteristics of the new medium – which for the internet was interactivity. We still need to play with the ability to scale, augment and create- in an instant. But for now, the most cutting-edge developments in AI capabilities include lifelikeness; real-time generation and interaction; and AI agents that can perform tasks on our behalf. All of this adds up to an increasingly empowered virtual human.
What do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities for businesses that are considering investing in or developing AI-powered virtual human technologies?
I believe that the biggest challenge will not be access (to cutting edge AI models) – it will be organizational. A successful moat will be about building a great company and a product that people love – with smart strategic alliances. And staying the course to find that “killer app.”
What are the key regulatory challenges and opportunities for businesses operating in the AI and virtual human space? How can companies navigate the evolving regulatory landscape?
By staying aware and ahead of the upcoming issues, as it makes sense. For example, back in 2019 a California Bill of Rights proposed that synthetic content be marked as synthetic, within the frame, respecting the user’s right to know. It was just a proposal at the time, but it made sense to us, and we proactively created our own watermark that appeared on all our videos. We have since adopted the C2PA standard, which traces the video back to its source and AI origins, with cryptographic keys.