- Google’s new Portraits experiment lets users chat with AI avatars modeled on real experts.
- The project’s first Portrait is Radical Candor author Kim Scott.
- The avatar delivers advice based on Scott’s actual content and was developed with her direct involvement.
Google is testing out a tool to connect people with all kinds of experts, or at least their AI equivalents.
The new Portraits feature, available in Google Labslets you chat one‑on‑one with AI avatars modeled after real‑life experts and built with their input. The initial Portrait is an AI facsimile of Radical Candor author Kim Scott.
Think of it like a Zoom call with a life coach who’s recently given a successful TED Talk (and yes, the name is more than a little suggestive of the Harry Potter magic paintings).
If you are in the US, you can sign up for Portraits through Google Labs, and, once approved, talk to Kim Scott right now. You’ll hear her voice (or an AI clone of her voice) say hello, and you can chat right back. Her expertise is around leadership and management, so her Portrait will focus on those topics.
So, if you aren’t sure how to give feedback to your boss, navigate complex work relationships, or overcome imposter syndrome, she’s your digital muse. The responses are built on her actual work, filtered through Google’s Gemini AI model.
Importantly, the Portrait was developed with Scott’s feedback and insight. This means the ideas, way of speaking, and even her tone, are all consistent with how she would actually behave in a real conversation.
The AI doesn’t actually know you, but the responses (wich it can say, or write) feel more tailored than a blog post and more personal than a YouTube video.
Talking to the AI Kim Scott with Google Portraits, I was impressed with the realism of the voice and the language choices in how the AI spoke; it definitely sounded like a real person unless I listened closely.
On the other hand, the Portrait is, of necessity, limited in what it will discuss. It feels like when, as a kid, you are talking to a teacher who is laser-focused on the lesson plan and will not be distracted by any attempt to go off-topic.
Personal Portraits
Google hasn’t hinted at any specific plans for other people becoming Portraits, but it’s easy to imagine a whole stable of AI avatars providing all kinds of expertise and with the seal of approval from the human behind the faces and voices.
You could talk to Neil deGrasse Tyson about space, or Dolly Parton on how to write songs and put on a show. Unlike other ways to mimic people with AI, like clever prompts to ChatGPT or the collection available from Character AI, you could rely on these digital mentors to say things the real person would.
That’s the bet Google seems to be making. Not that AI will replace human mentors, but that it might distribute their knowledge more evenly and make it more accessible. You don’t need to agree with everything the AI says to appreciate the potential here.
And at least now you can say Kim Scott told you how to be “a more kick-ass leader without losing your humanity.”