Biography:Neuro-sama
Template:Infobox Twitch streamer
Neuro-sama is a chatbot styled after a female VTuber that hosts livestreams on the Twitch channel "vedal987". Her speech and personality are generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) system which utilizes a large language model, allowing her to communicate with viewers in a live chat. She was created by a computer programmer and AI-developer named Vedal, who decided to build upon the concept of an AI VTuber by combining interactions between AI gameplay and a computer-generated avatar. She debuted on Twitch on 19 December 2022 after four years of development.[1]
Development
Neuro-sama was created by developer vedal987.[2][3] Her responses to the audience are generated from a large language model, which a text-to-speech application converts into a "cutesy voice".[4] According to Vedal, a separate AI model controls her in-game actions when she plays video games.[5] In an interview with Bloomberg News , he said that Neuro-sama was his full-time job.[4]
After four years of development, Neuro-sama debuted on Twitch on 19 December 2022.[6] Her new design was implemented on 27 May 2023.[7]
History
2022
Neuro streamed every day from her debut. She rapidly grew in popularity, from a maximum concurrent viewership of 516 on 19 December to 3,393 on 31 December, and going from a Twitch follower count of 2,825 to around 40,000 in the same time period. Nearly all of her streaming content in 2022 was of the rhythm game osu!, with one Minecraft stream.
On 28 December, she defeated osu! champion mrekk 10-5 in a 1v1 contest.[8]
2023
On 3 January, Neuro-sama reached 50,000 Twitch followers.
On 4 January, Neuro-sama sang for the first time on stream, performing "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd.[9]
On 11 January, she was temporarily banned from Twitch for two weeks for a Terms of Service violation.[10]
On 25 January, Neuro-sama returned to Twitch with a stream in which she played Pokémon Showdown! Gen 4 random battles against viewers.
On 20 February, Neuro-sama reached 200,000 Twitch followers. It was announced during a stream with Vtuber Onigiri. Neuro-sama responded: "Yeah. That's amazing. I'm happy I have that many people following me. I hope I keep them entertained with my streams and content for as long as possible, and I hope I get to meet more of you in the future, so thank you for following me everybody, and please add more of my followers, because I love all of you so much. Thank you so much. Heart heart."
On 25 March, a new character acting as a doppelgänger to Neuro-sama was introduced on vedal987's channel. She was later named Evil Neuro and became a recurring character.[11]
On 15 April, Neuro-sama held a stream with Hololive member Takanashi Kiara, during which they rated the contents of viewers' refrigerators. The stream reached a peak of over 19,000 viewers on Kiara's channel and over 10,000 on Neuro-sama's. It was the first collaboration between Neuro-sama and a member of a major agency. She also reached 300,000 Twitch followers.
On 27 May, Neuro-sama held an official debut stream to reveal her first original Live2D model. She had previously used a ready-made model. According to TwitchTracker, the stream reached a peak of 25,687 concurrent viewers, beating the channel's previous record by more than double.[12]
On 30 May, Neuro-sama was announced to be participating in OffKai Expo 2023, held from 16-18 June, marking her first fan convention appearance.[13]
On 14 June, Neuro-sama held her first sponsored stream, in the form of a watchalong commentating on the debut stream of a talent from vtuber group idolEN.[14]
On 1 September, Neuro-sama reached 400,000 Twitch followers.
On 16 December, vedal987 received an award for Best Tech VTuber at the 2023 Vtuber Awards.[15]
On 19 December, Neuro-sama held her first subathon alongside her first anniversary of streaming on Twitch.[16]
During the subathon Neuro-sama achieved the status of most watched Vtuber across all major livestreaming platforms,[17] and most watched female streamer on Twitch for the fourth week of December according to Streams Charts.[18]
2024
On 4 January, Neuro-sama ended her subathon after 17 days of continuous livestreaming, garnering a total of 41,767 Twitch subscriptions, and 2.43 million collective watch hours.
On 28 January, Neuro-sama reached 500,000 Twitch followers.
Online content
The chatbot's Twitch content primarily centers around playing video games, notably osu! (2007), in which her gameplay once defeated the best human player in the world, and Minecraft (2011), in which her adaptations to sandbox gameplay have gained notoriety.[19] Other aspects of her content delivery include singing songs, playing chess with her viewers, chatting with other VTubers during collaborations and reacting to YouTube videos.[4][20][21] While playing games or participating in other activities, the AI frequently engages with viewers by responding to their questions and acknowledging donations. Her comedic and sometimes controversial responses to the live chat have gone viral, accelerating the rise in popularity.[22] Her fanbase has dubbed itself "The Swarm".[6]
Controversy
On 11 January 2023, the Twitch channel received a temporary ban for unspecified "hateful conduct", likely stemming from controversial statements made by the AI, including skepticism surrounding the validity of the Holocaust during a stream.[23][24][25] Vedal implemented more measures to prevent Neuro-sama from making offensive statements after this occurred.[20] The channel was unbanned on 25 January 2023 and surpassed 100,000 followers the same day.[26]
Discography
As featured artist
| Original Artist | Title | Year | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| KIRA | "Monster" (Camila feat. Neuro-sama) |
2023 | [27] |
| Set It Off | "Why Do I" (Will Stetson feat. Neuro-sama) |
[28] |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | The Vtuber Awards | Best Tech VTuber | Won | [29] |
See also
- 15.ai, an artificial intelligence speech synthesizer that generates voices from an assortment of fictional characters from a variety of media sources
- ai sponge, a Twitch and YouTube channel that used artificial intelligence (AI) to generate livestream content featuring characters from the animated SpongeBob SquarePants
- Nothing, Forever, a 24/7 procedurally generated animated sitcom parodying Seinfeld that was launched on Twitch on 14 December 2022, five days before Neuro-sama
- Tay, a chatbot taken offline for denying the Holocaust[30]
References
- ↑ "What is AI VTuber? (9 Faq About AI VTuber)" (in en-US). https://live3d.io/blog/what-is-AI-vtuber.
- ↑ Narita, Seiji (January 27, 2023). "AI VTuber Neuro-sama is back from its Twitch ban and acting as strange as ever". Automation (Active Gaming Media). https://automaton-media.com/en/news/20230127-17630/.
- ↑ "Vedal Twitter". https://twitter.com/Vedal987.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 D'Anastasio, Cecilia (June 17, 2023). "Meet Neuro-sama, the AI Twitch Streamer Who Plays Minecraft, Sings Karaoke, Loves Art". https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-06-16/neuro-sama-an-ai-twitch-influencer-plays-minecraft-sings-karaoke-loves-art.
- ↑ "【Vedal's Interview】Neuro sama's New Model, and the AI System behind her". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy-9Of46w4A.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Gordon, Nicholas (January 17, 2023). "ChatGPT is a salvo in a growing generative A.I. 'arms race' between the U.S. and China" (in en). https://fortune.com/2023/01/17/chatgpt-generative-ai-arms-race-china-us/.
- ↑ @annytf (May 27, 2023). "I had a lot of fun making the new model for Neuro-Sama!! wink heart 💜". https://twitter.com/annytf/status/1662572237080391681.
- ↑ @Vedal987 (December 28, 2022). "incoming transmission from neuro sama mrekkosu". https://twitter.com/Vedal987/status/1608161326291116032.
- ↑ "Neuro-sama Sings Her First Song on Stream - Blinding Lights". January 4, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K6gzxYj-0o.
- ↑ @BetterBanned (January 11, 2023). "🚨 ️Twitch Affiliate "vedal987" has been temporary banned 🚫❌". https://twitter.com/BetterBanned/status/1613203441907601408.
- ↑ "VTuber Neuro-sama terrifies viewers with her gruesome game concept" (in en). 2023-06-12. https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/vtuber-neuro-sama-terrifies-viewers-with-her-gruesome-game-concept-2173437/.
- ↑ "vedal987". https://twitchtracker.com/vedal987/streams/46900957772.
- ↑ @OffKaiExpo (May 30, 2023). "Exciting news! @Vedal987's creation, @NeurosamaAI, the incredible AI-powered VTuber, will be a special guest at #OffKaiGen2! Join us for a unique experience and witness the charm of Neuro-sama in action!". https://twitter.com/OffKaiExpo/status/1663576957114515457.
- ↑ "Your favorite VTubers will watch idolEN 2, will you?". https://twitter.com/idol_corp/status/1668811000265547778.
- ↑ Sung, Morgan (2023-12-20). "The first annual VTuber Awards was a win for VR" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/20/vtuber-awards-vr-twitch-weplay-filian/.
- ↑ @Vedal987 (December 17, 2023). "the long awaited subathon begins december 19th at 7pm GMT". https://twitter.com/Vedal987/status/1736395894893797608.
- ↑ @StreamsCharts. "TOP VTubers in the 4th week of December". https://twitter.com/StreamsCharts/status/1740729380794507492. Missing or empty |date= (help)
- ↑ @StreamsCharts. "TOP Female Twitch streamers - 4th week of December". https://twitter.com/StreamsCharts/status/1740757063721230544. Missing or empty |date= (help)
- ↑ Gutelle, Sam (January 6, 2023). "There's an AI VTuber now and it has 70,000 followers on Twitch". https://www.tubefilter.com/2023/01/06/neuro-sama-twitch-ai-vtuber-streamer/.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Winslow, Levi (February 4, 2023). "Twitch's Mega Popular AI Streamer Now Pulling In Thousands Of Viewers With Reaction Content". Kotaku Australia. https://www.kotaku.com.au/2023/02/twitchs-mega-popular-ai-streamer-now-pulling-in-thousands-of-viewers-with-reaction-content/.
- ↑ "Filian and her friends took on "The Wall" in an innovative VTuber game show" (in en-US). 2023-10-25. https://www.tubefilter.com/2023/10/25/filian-vtuber-twitch-game-show-hole-in-the-wall/.
- ↑ Xiang, Chloe (January 5, 2023). "This Virtual Twitch Streamer is Controlled Entirely By AI". https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkg98v/this-virtual-twitch-streamer-is-controlled-entirely-by-ai.
- ↑ Gach, Ethan (January 6, 2023). "AI-Controlled VTuber Streams Games On Twitch, Denies Holocaust". https://kotaku.com/vtuber-twitch-holocaust-denial-minecraft-ai-chatgpt-1849960527.
- ↑ Gach, Ethan (January 12, 2023). "AI VTuber Banned For 'Hateful Conduct,' Now Undistinguishable From Real Twitch Stars". https://kotaku.com/neuro-sama-twitch-vtuber-ban-holocaust-minecraft-ai-1849977269.
- ↑ Pabriga, Cedric (January 12, 2023). "Controversial AI streamer Neuro Sama finally banned on Twitch". https://dotesports.com/streaming/news/controversial-ai-streamer-neuro-sama-finally-banned-on-twitch.
- ↑ "vedal987". https://twitchtracker.com/vedal987/statistics.
- ↑ @cumilq (August 11, 2023). "MY FIRST COVER IS FINALLY OUT ! ! [ MONSTER ( by KIRA ) Cover by Camila ft. NeurosamaAI"]. https://twitter.com/cumilq/status/1690080430748250112.
- ↑ @willstetson (December 17, 2023). "New Cover!! Why Do I / Will Stetson x Neuro-sama". https://twitter.com/willstetson/status/1736408912050700468.
- ↑ "The Vtuber Awards - Winners" (in en). https://thevtuberawards.com/winners.
- ↑ Lee, Dave. "Tay: Microsoft issues apology over racist chatbot fiasco". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35902104. "Microsoft has apologised for creating an artificially intelligent chatbot that quickly turned into a holocaust-denying racist. ... Within 24 hours Tay had been deactivated so the team could make "adjustments"."
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