TL;DR:
- Virtual influencers created with AI are gaining popularity in the content creator industry.
- They’ve raised concerns among human influencers and traditional professionals about income loss and job security.
- Luxury brands are partnering with virtual influencers for cost-effective marketing campaigns.
- Virtual influencers offer brand control but lack the human influence on purchases.
- Debate over disclosure of AI-generated status exists, with India mandating disclosure.
- Lil Miquela, a prominent virtual influencer, combines AI and human storytelling.
- Racially ambiguous features aim to appeal to a global audience but raise questions about inclusivity.
- Criticism over the sexualization and gender dynamics of virtual influencers persists.
Main AI News:
In the world of social media, Aitana Lopez, with her distinctive pink hair, commands the attention of over 200,000 followers. Her posts range from concert selfies to snapshots from her bedroom, often tagged with popular brands like Olaplex and Victoria’s Secret. Surprisingly, Aitana is entirely fictional – a creation of artificial intelligence, one among the many digital avatars thriving in the burgeoning $21 billion content creator industry.
This rise of virtual influencers has sparked concern among human influencers, who fear that their income is dwindling in the face of digital competition. This apprehension isn’t limited to influencers; established professionals across various sectors worry about their livelihoods being threatened by generative AI – a technology capable of generating human-like text, images, and code in mere seconds.
The minds behind these hyper-realistic AI creations argue that they are not causing harm but rather disrupting an inflated market. Diana Núñez, co-founder of Barcelona-based agency The Clueless, which brought Aitana to life, commented, “We were taken aback by the skyrocketing rates influencers charge nowadays. That got us thinking, ‘What if we just create our own influencer?’ The rest is history. We unintentionally created a monster. A beautiful one, though.”
Over recent years, luxury brands have embraced partnerships with virtual influencers. Kim Kardashian’s KKW Beauty collaborates with Noonoouri, while Louis Vuitton associates with Ayayi. An Instagram analysis of an H&M ad featuring virtual influencer Kuki revealed that it reached 11 times more people and resulted in a 91 percent decrease in the cost per person remembering the advert compared to a traditional ad.
Becky Owen, Global Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer at Billion Dollar Boy and former Head of Meta’s creator innovations team, noted, “It is not influencing purchase like a human influencer would, but it is driving awareness, favorability, and recall for the brand.”
Brands are quick to embrace virtual influencers as a cost-effective means to attract attention while maintaining control over their messaging. Rebecca McGrath, Associate Director for Media and Technology at Mintel, explained, “For a brand, they have total control versus a real person who comes with potential controversy, their own demands, their own opinions.“
However, human influencers argue that their virtual counterparts should be transparent about their artificial nature. Danae Mercer, a content creator with more than 2 million followers, expressed her unease, stating, “What freaks me out about these influencers is how hard it is to tell they’re fake.”
The UK’s Advertising Standards Agency acknowledges the rise of virtual influencers but has not mandated disclosure regarding AI generation. India, on the other hand, requires virtual influencers to reveal their AI origins.
Despite The Clueless’s efforts to disclose Aitana’s artificial identity through the hashtag #aimodel, many others do not, using vague terms like #digitalinfluencer. Núñez shared, “Even though we made it clear she was an AI-generated model… initially, most of her followers didn’t question her authenticity, they genuinely believed in her existence.”
Lil Miquela, one of the first virtual influencers, commands substantial fees for her deals and has worked with renowned brands like Burberry, Prada, and Givenchy. While AI plays a role in generating content for Lil Miquela, the creators emphasize the irreplaceable human element in storytelling.
Ridhima Kahn, Vice President of Business Development at Dapper Labs, who oversees Lil Miquela’s partnerships, explained, “A lot of companies are coming out with virtual influencers they have generated in a day, and they are not really putting that human element [into the messaging]… and I don’t think that is going to be the long-term strategy.“
Virtual influencers like Lil Miquela often possess racially ambiguous features, aiming to appeal to a broad global audience. Francesca Sobande, a senior lecturer in digital media studies at Cardiff University, suggests that such characteristics are primarily a marketing strategy. She questions the lack of black creators in the virtual influencer space, pointing out that this seems to be driven by profit rather than genuine inclusivity.
Dapper Labs and The Clueless defend their diversity efforts, with the latter stating that its creations aim to “foster inclusivity and provide opportunities to collectives that have faced exclusion for an extended period.”
Nonetheless, some critics argue that virtual influencers like Aitana are overly sexualized, with her frequent appearances in underwear. Mercer, the human influencer, asserts, “It feels like women in recent years have been able to take back some agency… They have been able to take control of their bodies and say, ‘For so long, men have made money off me; I am going to make money for me.'”
Conclusion:
The emergence of AI-driven virtual influencers represents a disruptive force in the content creator industry, raising concerns among human influencers and professionals. While virtual influencers offer cost-effective benefits to brands, transparency and authenticity issues persist. The debate over the importance of human storytelling and inclusivity in virtual influencer success continues. The market must adapt to this evolving landscape, addressing ethical concerns and redefining the boundaries of influence in the digital era.
