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Imagine this: you have just walked out of your last exam, so it is time to celebrate. You open up the X-app to message your friends if anyone is down to have dinner and to go out. Everyone appears to be enthusiastic, so you make reservations for your favourite restaurant in Rotterdam, in the same app. After dropping off your bags at home and changing clothes, you decide to take the metro to the city center. You check in through the X-app and you are on your way. You arrive at the restaurant, so one of the hosts asks to see your reservation: you turn your screen to show the QR-code in your X-app. Once everyone has had enough to eat and drink, you ask to pay. To make it easier for the waiter, you will pay for it in full using the in-app payment system: you will just use the in-app expense splitter later. You get to the club and see a huge line outside. Thankfully, you already bought tickets in the X-app and get to skip the queue. After a couple of hours and drinks, you decide it is time to go back home. You order a cab in the X-app, which shows up only minutes later. In the cab, you decide to order some food in the app, so it will be delivered around the same time as you arrive home: think smart, not hard.

All the interactions described above happened in one application: X. This upcoming ‘super-app’ which has been coined by Elon Musk, appears to plan on becoming ‘The WeChat of the West’ (Hetzner, 2022). On October 5^th, after the continuous back-and-forth communications regarding Musk’s takeover of social media platform Twitter, he tweeted: “Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app”. His goal is to emulate the ease at which the Chinese population is able to sort out its socials, groceries, payments and such, on WeChat (Kleinman, 2022). If the application ends up being brought to existence, it will be the first super-app in the Western world and could potentially disrupt the consumer market.

However, the question is: will it be brought to existence? As one would expect, the process of introducing such an app comes with challenges. I think I am right in saying that the thought of having a WeChat-esque app in Europe has crossed many minds. So why is there not one yet? What allowed for apps like WeChat, Alipay, Grab and Gojek to be successful in Asia? Ganti (2022) argues that there are three main points as to why these apps have been successful in Asia. Firstly, these emerging economies missed the desktop internet revolution in the 90s and 00s. Once smartphones and cheaper hardware became accessible, a population of 1.5B people suddenly became connected (Ganti, 2022). This makes them a mobile-first population. Secondly, it gave the large population of unbanked people to adopt digital banking. It also allowed merchants in rural areas to trade goods and services in a cashless environment (Ganti, 2022). Thirdly, the strong governmental support in WeChat’s beginning phases allowed for quick adoption. The government sought to connect with its population digitally, however lacked the digital capabilities. WeChat solved this, leading to high levels of nationwide adoption. Additionally, the banning of various Western social media platforms in China also promotes the use of the super-app.

These points do not align with the current state of the Western world: we are not a mobile-first population; we have already been introduced to digital banking by banks themselves; our governments appear to be well-connected with the population and there are a plethora of social media platforms that can be used freely. Does this mean the X-app will not work? Not necessarily, however, there are some arguments to be made as to why it would not.

Firstly, there may be a lack of consumer trust. Having experienced the desktop internet revolution and other technological advancements, we have seen quite a few privacy issues. The idea of all personal data (e.g. spendings, search history, interactions) being centralized in one super-app may be too intimidating. Secondly, regulatory issues are bound to arise. A lot of European and North-American countries have strong restrictive data-sharing, as well as competition legislation in place (Ganti, 2022). These would be large obstacles for the X-app, as it would most likely require the cooperation of the major companies in place (e.g. JustEat, Uber, Meta).

I believe the realization of the X-app is something that lies ahead in the far future. Although the thought of having everything in one app is rather compelling, it would require for an enormous shift in consumer trends to make it successful in the Western world. What are your thoughts? Do you think we are ready for such an app? Would you be excited to use it?

References

Ganti, A. (2022, April 4). Why isn’t there a super-app in the West yet? . Opgehaald van Medium: https://uxdesign.cc/why-isnt-there-a-super-app-in-the-west-yet-e1407005087

Hetzner, C. (2022, October 5). Elon Musk says Twitter deal acts as accelerant for his planned WeChat rival, the ‘X’ app: Here’s what that means . Opgehaald van Fortune: https://fortune.com/2022/10/05/what-is-x-app-elon-musk-twitter-takeover-accelerant-for-wechat-rival/

Kleinman, Z.. (2022, October). Elon Musk, Twitter and the mysterious X app. Retrieved from BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63141272

Wong, Tessa. (2022, October). Elon Musk X: What life is like on a super-app in Asia. Retrieved from bbc: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63113517

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People often say one must first sell their soul to Hollywood in order to make it big in the industry. Although this is usually said jokingly, what would you think if I told you the future might hold something somewhat similar? I am talking about actors who might start selling their faces to companies. No, I am not referring to celebrities partnering up with large firms to become an ambassador, like Roger Federer for Rolex, or Millie Bobby Brown for Samsung.

Last week, the actor Bruce Willis, famous for his role in the Die Hard-movies and Pulp Fiction, was a hot topic. He had reportedly sold the rights to his face to a deepfake company called Deepcake (BBC, 2022). The actor stepped down from acting earlier this year, after being diagnosed with aphasia: a language disorder caused by brain damage which affects one’s speech and comprehension (Chadd et al., 2017). The company stated that Willis allowed them to create his digital twin and use their technology to upkeep his acting legacy in future movies and commercials. This has also been put to the test in a 2021 Russian commercial, which included a deepfake image of the actor. However, these statements turned out to be false: there has not been any partnership or agreement between the actor and the company (BBC, 2022). There is still a lot of unclarity regarding what has been said or done, but it does make you think.

Although deepfake technology, which refers to hyper-realistic videos that apply artificial intelligence (AI) to depict someone say and do things that never happened, is something people have mostly been afraid of (Westerlund, 2019). However, there is a lot of potential too. In the case of Bruce Willis, an actor who has a large fanbase, but is unable to continue acting due to health issues, this technology could allow for years of movies to come. Combining this with AI voice replacement, one can only imagine the possibilities. Actors who have stepped down, like Willis, or have passed away, like Alan Rickman, could be immortalised through these technologies.

However, is this something the world population is waiting for? I think it is a tricky situation. Although I am not fond of any actors in particular, it would be very interesting to see some legendary actors being brought back to life again. The older generation may relive their youth by seeing their childhood idols back on the silver screen, giving a sense of nostalgia.  However, what if this technology ends up being used for actors who are perfectly fine, but just cannot make it to four separate movie sets at the same time? This would result in a higher number of movies and series coming out each year, which naturally keeps the public entertained, as well as higher revenues for the actors, filmmakers, and cinemas. However, I believe it would just not be the same. Actors gain a fanbase due to their style of acting, choice of movies, interviews, etc. Although the technology is able to mimic certain mannerisms, it would miss a sense of authenticity. I think actors would not gain as big of a following as they do now, as they might just be seen as money hungry. Nevertheless, I believe the relevance of deepfake technology in the entertainment industry will only become greater: be it for good, or bad.

References

BBC. (2022, October). Bruce Willis denies selling rights to his face. Retrieved from bbc:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63106024

Chadd, K., Caute, A., Marshall, J., Monnelly, K., & Woolf, C. (2017). Functional assessment & therapy for acquired writing impairment in aphrasia after stroke using mainstream technology. Cerebrovascular Diseases, 43(S1), 286.

Megafon+. (2021, September). Реклама МегаФон | МегаФон Плюс 4 подписки по цене 1 | Брюс Уиллис. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI_kf5GcHTA&ab_channel=%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0TV

Westerlund, M. (2019). The emergence of deepfake technology: A review. Technology Innovation Management Review, 9(11).