This Virtual Person Is the Face of Audi Q6 e-tron’s Voice Assistant

Have you ever wondered how Alexa looks like? Have you ever pictured a face after hearing a virtual assistant’s voice? Virtual assistants are now a key technology in our homes, our telephones and, naturally, our cars: they call our contacts, answer our questions and guide us to our favourite restaurant. But we all still have concerns about artificial intelligence.

That is why Audi, with the help of DDB, has decided to take a step further and break down the barriers between us and technology, by making it more human-like. The result? Ai.leene. She is the human version of the voice we hear when we activate the virtual assistant in the new Audi Q6 e-tron, the most state-of-the-art to date. 

The agency DDB was the main creative force behind this innovative project, which featured a multidisciplinary team that included The Clueless, an AI modelling agency famous for creating Aitana López, Spain’s first virtual model. The agency highlights that in order to portray  accurately Audi’s virtual assistant, the prompts were crafted using a lexical analysis software that selected the 10,000 adjectives which best define Audi and also phonetic analysis programs to study the assistant’s voice. “Giving technology a face and a soul was unthinkable until now. That is the most interesting thing about this project, how it uses innovation to break down barriers and how it helps us connect with artificial intelligence in a more human manner”, explains Jaume Badia, executive creative director at the agency DDB, about this creative project.

Furthermore, to produce the audio visual content starring Ai.leene, the largest production studio in Spain was used to create the digital her world and integrate real Audi vehicles.

Ai.leene is here to stay; from now on, she will be the brand’s first virtual ambassador, charged with presenting to us all of Audi’s biggest developments.

The new Audi Q6 e-tron’s virtual assistant will not only stand out thanks to its over 800 voice commands, ability to respond through Alexa integration or the future incorporation of OpenAI, but also because it is the first to inaugurate the era of human technology.

“This project is another example of how at DDB we always strive to explore new channels, technologies, and languages that allow us to connect with people. Artificial Intelligence is a tool with a huge potential, and when there is immense talent behind it -like we have in the agency- wonderful things happen.”, explains José María Roca de Viñals, president and CCO of DDB Spain.