The past two years have shown that AI does not simply automate tasks. Besides entering into the world of art, It also changes how we present ourselves to one another. In support, sales, media, and games, the most interesting uses do not remove people, they rebuild a sense of presence. Synthetic voices carry tone and pacing.
Avatars mirror our gestures. Agents keep context and remember preferences across channels. In others, AI steps forward and learns to feel more like a person, not by copying slang or jokes, but by modeling cadence, emotion, and memory. This piece starts with a sector that keeps humans in the loop on purpose, then moves to two areas where AI is working hard to sound and act human at scale. The goal is to separate showy demos from the practical signals that presence, warmth, and trust can travel through a screen.
Live dealers as a design choice for presence
The gaming industry shows how a real person can be the product’s center. A casino with live dealers streams human hosts from studio tables to players’ screens. Cards are dealt by a trained professional, chips are moved by hand, and small talk flows in real time. The technology handles camera cuts, stream stability, and on-screen overlays, yet the core of the experience is a shared table led by a person. That is the point. The dealer sets rhythm, explains outcomes, and reacts to chat. Players see a face, hear a voice, and read micro-expressions that say more than a random number ever could.
This format improves online table play in simple ways. Different camera angles make it feel like you’re right at the table, and close-ups on the turn or river pull you into the key moments. The chat box keeps things personal: the host greets players, answers questions, and sets the mood. With the right lighting, sound, and setup, every action feels sharp and easy to catch. Under the hood, automation speeds payouts, protects integrity, and balances seats, but it never replaces the human center.
That balance keeps the session from feeling like a slot. The result is an experience that travels well to mobile and big screens alike. People who prefer the social feel of a pit get the comfort of home with a host who keeps things moving. In short, the casino with live dealers shows that presence is not a byproduct. It is a feature you design for, with technology in a support role.
Avatars and voices that feel present, not robotic
Outside human-hosted rooms, product teams use AI avatars and neural voices to recreate live presence at scale. Avatars can hold eye contact, mirror nods, and animate hands to match emphasis. Neural speech adds timing, breaths, and prosody so a script sounds like a conversation. These tools work best when they carry small human signals, not just words. Two trends make this feel more real. First, adoption of generative AI in front-of-house functions has surged, which puts these systems directly in customer touchpoints. In McKinsey’s 2025 global survey, 71 percent of organizations report using generative AI regularly in at least one function, with service operations among the most common areas. Seventy-eight percent say they use AI in at least one function overall. Second, realism has crossed a threshold in audio.
It is worth noting how leadership is preparing for agent-style interactions. Gartner says about 29% of CEOs are already developing plans to work with machine customers and AI agents, showing that chat-based tools and digital assistants are set to play a bigger role in daily customer experiences. The table below pulls together a few concrete signals.
| Signal | What it says about human-like experiences | Latest figure |
| Organizations using AI in at least one function | AI is embedded in real workflows, including customer-facing ones | 78% |
| Organizations regularly using generative AI in at least one function | Gen AI voices and avatars are moving into production, not pilots | 71% |
| CEOs working on strategy for machine customers and AI agents | Top-down support for agentic, conversational experiences | 29% |
| AI voice clones misclassified as human by listeners | Audio realism is sufficient for natural conversation | 58% |
These numbers do not say avatars or voices will replace people. They show that lifelike cues are now available to teams that want to build warmer digital touchpoints at scale.
Conversation that listens, adapts, and remembers
Memory helps too. When an agent recalls a preference, the user experiences continuity, not a reset. Adoption data suggests companies are reorganizing to capture this value. McKinsey finds that 21 percent of organizations using generative AI have already redesigned at least some workflows, a sign that teams are changing process to suit conversational work. Leaders also see a shift toward agentic experiences as machine customers and AI agents become part of daily life, which keeps pressure on teams to make digital talk feel natural.
One line captures the moment:
“More than three-quarters of respondents now say that their organizations use AI in at least one business function.” — McKinsey, The State of AI 2025.
That reach changes expectations. When voices sound human, small design choices matter. Short acknowledgments like “got it” or “one second” reduce friction. Sentiment cues that soften offers after a frustrated reply build trust. Calibrated pacing, not speed alone, improves perceived competence. The PLoS One results underline why this is possible today. If listeners already struggle to separate cloned voices from real ones, then prosody, timing, and memory design become the real competitive levers. The teams that win will not promise to replace humans. They will use AI to make digital conversations feel more like being there with a helpful person, every time.