A team of researchers at National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) yesterday unveiled artificial intelligence (AI) tools for making audio and visual materials for advertisements, saying it could help businesses save time and costs.
Online ads have become a part of daily life, but producing creative promotions are time-consuming, associate professor of computer science Wu Shan-hung (吳尚鴻) told a news conference in Taipei.
Through a government-funded program, the team spent two years developing AI tools that use deep-learning models and social media analysis to produce images with designated objects and context, he said.
The researchers helped AppFinca’s concentration training app Flora reach top ranking on the list of free apps in Taiwan on Apple’s App Store, outperforming Gmail and Google Drive, he said.
Liu Yi-wen (劉奕汶), an associate professor of electrical engineering, also develops tools for mimicking human voices to sing songs.
However, their tools still cannot create original melodies, and they need further research to avoid producing materials that might raise copyright issues, Liu said.
The tools are intended to improve the work efficiency of copywriters, but would not replace human writers who would still have to sign off on an ad, Wu said.
Although many start-ups have good products, they do not know how to market them, he said, adding that he first noticed this after teaching entrepreneurship classes.
The AI toots, he said, could help small and medium-sized businesses save money on ad development.
The team is in discussion with Asustek Computer, United Microelectronics and KKBOX, as well as startups, about technical cooperation.
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