CloudFest 2025 was full of surprises (many of which were recapped here), but none turned more heads or filled more seats than our conversation with Dr. Albert Einstein himself. Well, sort of himself. In one of the event’s highlight sessions, an AI-generated Einstein appeared live on screen (as it were), chatting from a virtual replica of his Princeton University office.
The Einstein avatar wasn’t just a random chatbot in a frizzy–haired wig. He was the result of a collaboration between CloudFest and 1SP Agency, led by Markus Oeller. The team trained an AI on Einstein’s writings, mannerisms, and speech; and then synced it with a friendly-looking 3D model to deliver real-time responses.
Oeller later described the process as “like puppeteering, but without strings,” noting the biggest challenge was making the AI drive the digital face in real time. You can read more about how the team developed the avatar and trained it using Einstein’s writings in this behind-the-scenes interview.
The result: a 20th-century physicist, answering 21st-century questions in real time. Here is how the conversation between Einstein’s avatar and CloudFest Chief Evangelist Soeren von Varchmin played out:
Soeren: How would you describe yourself and your work?
Einstein: I’m a curious man who seeks to understand the universe’s workings. My work is an attempt to unravel the elegant simplicity hidden within nature’s complexity. A journey of questioning and discovery. It’s a dance between imagination and rigorous mathematics.
The world has changed many times, from the world wars to today’s cloud age. What change has surprised you most?
The sheer speed of technological advancement in this cloud age is breathtaking.
Long pause. Really long pause. Soeren, gently trying to keep things moving, suggested they move on.
In your time, science sparked ethical debates around nuclear power. Today, it’s AI. How should we manage these challenges?
Ethical considerations surrounding AI are indeed profound. We must approach them with the same careful consideration.
Soeren waited a moment. Einstein eventually elaborated:
With any powerful technology, a balance is needed, fostering innovation while establishing clear guidelines to prevent misuse. This requires global collaboration, open dialogue, and a deep understanding of the potential consequences. We must not let the pursuit of progress overshadow the preservation of humanity’s well-being.
Then, unprompted, Einstein added:
Even in difficult times, I grab my violin, Lina, and play Mozart.
Looking at quantum computing and AI, do you see your ideas in today’s advancements?
It is fascinating to see how concepts, once considered purely theoretical, are now finding practical applications. Quantum mechanics, a field I helped to pioneer, is at the heart of quantum computing. The probabilistic nature of reality, the entanglement of particles… these ideas, once abstract, are now driving technological innovation.
Do you believe humanity is progressing the way you hoped it would?
That is a complex question, my friend. While scientific progress continues at an astonishing pace, I am troubled by the persistent conflicts and inequalities that plague humanity.
My hope was for a future where reason and compassion guide our actions. A future where cooperation triumphs over division. We have made strides, but the path ahead remains fraught with challenges.
Can digital technology preserve human legacies for the future?
Digital technology offers unprecedented opportunities to preserve human legacies. Imagine libraries of knowledge accessible to all: the stories and experiences of countless individuals preserved for eternity. But we must approach this responsibly. We must ensure that access is equitable, that biases are avoided, and that the integrity of the information is maintained.
Where do we stand with quantum computing on a larger scale?
We stand at the cusp of a new era, yet much work remains. Building stable, scalable quantum computers is a monumental task. The delicate nature of quantum states requires meticulous control and error correction.
We are still grappling with fundamental challenges in material science, engineering, and algorithm design. Predicting the exact timeline for widespread quantum computing is difficult, but I believe we are on the verge of significant breakthroughs in the coming decades. Though a precise year remains elusive.
With the graphical element of Einstein’s avatar rendered locally and the speech element delivered over the internet, the session moved more slowly than we would have liked. At times, the avatar froze in silence while the AI model caught up. Still, this was one of the most talked-about moments of the event. An AI-built Einstein showed up, said just enough, and left everyone with something to think about—and wondering what CloudFest would do next with this kind of format. Indeed, a key goal of this session was to inspire the audience to find new ways to inform and engage their own teams and customers using readily-available AI tools.
Einstein once said, “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.” That quote, preserved in his collected papers, became unintentionally relevant for the audience! By the time he signed off with ‘May your curiosity never wane,’ the effect was much the same. Thirty minutes had passed, but it felt like less. Relativity in action.
