“When I’m communicating with my own chatbot,” she said, “sometimes I see something and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s so me!’”<br />The chatbots may also offer a glimpse of the music industry’s future, which is already beginning to involve virtual-reality concerts, playlist algorithms<br />and virtual assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, said Cortney Harding, a consultant to music technology companies and the author of “How We’ll Listen Next: The Future of Music From Streaming to Virtual Reality.”<br />develops, everything is going to go into a mixed-reality world,” Ms. Harding said, “where you could dial up a hologram of your favorite pop star<br />and have ‘real conversations’ with the artificially intelligent version of that person.”<br />Octane AI, founded about a year ago, is one of a handful of technology companies tailoring these programs to the entertainment<br />industry, with clients including Interscope Records, the label behind Maroon 5 and 30 Seconds to Mars.<br />“I hate the word bot,” said Josh Bocanegra, Persona’s chief executive, who founded the company with Ms. Milian.<br />Want to be the first to know when we release new music?” A series of questions with multiple-choice answers follows, leading the fan down a path lined with emojis<br />and video clips; social media links then point other fans back to the bot.<br />Persona creates custom chatbots for clients including Snoop Dogg and one for the “50 Shades Darker” character Christian Grey, which tells fans<br />that if it cannot trust them, “I’ll have no choice but to spank you.” Bocanegra said a basic bot could be ordered for $2,500 plus maintenance charges.
