social media influencers Archives

AI-generated virtual influencers are computer-generated characters or personas that exist solely in the digital realm. These influencers are created using artificial intelligence and are designed to mimic human-like appearances, behaviors, and personalities. They have gained significant popularity in recent years, particularly on social media platforms.

Here are some key points about AI-generated virtual influencers:

Creation Process

Virtual influencers are typically created by teams of artists, designers, and developers who use computer graphics and AI technologies to design their appearance and define their characteristics. These characters can range from realistic human-like figures to more stylized or fantastical designs.

Digital Persona

AI-generated virtual influencers have carefully crafted personalities, backstories, and interests. They are given unique traits, preferences, and behaviors to make them more relatable and engaging to their target audience.

Virtual influencers maintain an active presence on social media platforms, particularly Instagram, where they share content such as photos, videos, and captions. They interact with their followers, collaborate with brands, and promote products or services, similar to human influencers.

Brand Collaborations

Virtual influencers have become sought-after partners for collaborations with fashion, beauty, and lifestyle brands. Companies see them as a way to connect with younger demographics and to leverage their digital influence to promote products or services.

CGI and Motion Capture

The visuals and movements of virtual influencers are often created using computer-generated imagery (CGI) and motion capture technologies. These techniques allow for realistic animations and lifelike movements, enhancing the believability of the virtual influencer.

Challenges and Controversies

The rise of AI-generated virtual influencers has raised ethical questions and controversies. Critics argue that virtual influencers perpetuate unrealistic beauty standards and can blur the lines between reality and fiction. Additionally, issues related to transparency and disclosure of the virtual nature of these influencers have been a topic of debate.

Let’s consider some notable examples of AI-generated virtual influencers. Lil Miquela, mentioned earlier, as well as other characters like Shudu, Bermuda, and Imma. These virtual influencers have amassed large followings and have worked with prominent brands, showcasing the growing impact of AI in the influencer marketing industry.

Miquela, also known as Lil Miquela or Miquela Sousa, is an AI-generated virtual influencer who has gained significant popularity and influence in recent years. Miquela presents herself as a 19-year-old Brazilian-American model and musician, primarily active on social media platforms such as Instagram.

Miquela’s virtual persona and digital presence have captured a large following, and she has collaborated with various fashion brands, musicians, and artists. She shares photos, fashion content, music releases, and engages with her audience through captions and comments.

Although Miquela’s persona is AI-generated, she is managed by a creative agency called Brud. They have positioned Miquela as a character with a backstory and emotions, blurring the lines between the virtual and real world. Miquela has used her platform to advocate for various social causes, including racial equality and LGBTQ+ rights, amplifying important issues to her followers.

Miquela’s rise as an AI influencer has sparked discussions around virtual identities, authenticity, and the future of influencer marketing. Her unique approach has demonstrated the potential for AI-generated personas to engage with audiences and influence popular culture.

It’s worth noting that Miquela’s influence extends beyond AI and technology circles and has garnered mainstream attention. She represents an intriguing example of how AI can be leveraged to create engaging and influential virtual personalities, as an example.

While AI-generated influencers offer unique opportunities and advantages, there are several potential downsides and challenges associated with their use.

Authenticity and Trust

AI-generated influencers lack the genuine human experiences and emotions that human influencers possess. This raises concerns about the authenticity of their content and the trust they build with their followers. Audiences may question the credibility and relatability of AI-generated influencers, leading to skepticism and potential disengagement.

Lack of Diversity and Representation

AI-generated influencers are designed by human creators who may inadvertently perpetuate biases and stereotypes in their design. This can result in a lack of diversity and representation in terms of ethnicity, body types, abilities, and other important dimensions of human identity. This lack of diversity can reinforce existing societal inequalities and marginalize underrepresented groups.

Ethical Concerns

The use of AI-generated influencers raises ethical considerations. There may be instances where virtual influencers promote products or services without disclosing their virtual nature, leading to deceptive marketing practices. Additionally, the ownership and control of AI-generated influencer personas and their associated content may raise intellectual property and privacy concerns.

Displacement of Human Influencers

The rise of AI-generated influencers could potentially impact human influencers’ livelihoods. Brands may increasingly turn to virtual influencers, considering them cost-effective and controllable compared to human counterparts. This could lead to a decrease in opportunities for human influencers, impacting their income and professional prospects. Miquela has recently partnered with PacSun a clothing brand, wearing their clothes in her own virtual reality and showcasing them through TikTok.

The growing presence of AI-generated influencers in social media and popular culture may have psychological effects on audiences. The blurring of reality and fiction could potentially impact people’s perception of self-image, beauty standards, and social interactions. This can contribute to unrealistic expectations and create mental health issues.

A recent article written by Fortune, discusses a snapchat influencers launch of her own AI generated bot. Her bot allows users to be her girlfriend for $1 a minute, sparking concern over two realities blurring together.

As we enter this entirely foreign world of AI Technology, addressing these downsides requires responsible development and use of AI-generated influencers. Transparency, clear guidelines, diversity in design, and ethical frameworks are necessary to mitigate these concerns and ensure that AI-generated influencers positively contribute to the online ecosystem while upholding ethical standards and user trust.

Influencers are everywhere…on television commercials pushing certain brands, on the radio talking about products they use, and now on social media…which is probably the most impactful means of marketing nowadays.

What exactly is an influencer? It is an individual who has the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of his/her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his/her audience. Influencers in social media are people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a particular topic. They make regular posts about that topic on their preferred social media channels and generate large followings of enthusiastic engaged people who pay close attention to their views.

Brands love social media influencers because they can create trends and encourage their followers to buy products they promote. But influencer relationships are now being questioned due to the rise in influencer fraud – a dilemma that occurs when paid tastemakers use artificially inflated follower numbers to increase their asking rate for engaging their audience on behalf of a brand. While this used to be an isolated incident, it is now spreading rampantly throughout social media. According to a Points North Group study, up to 20% of mid-level influencers’ followers are likely fraudulent.

How to Spot Fake Influencers

Sniffing out fake Instagram influencers is sometimes an easy task – find a profile with two posts and a million fans and it’s definitely filled with Instagram fake followers. Other times, you have to consider the account as a whole and separate what looks real from what appears to be fake.

1) Followers to Following Ratio

Influencers typically follow 1-5% of their following. If the ratio is much higher than that, it could be due to cheap growth hacks. For example, some Instagram users will follow anyone and everyone to get a courtesy follow in return, then unfollow a bunch of people all at once.

2) Quality of Followers

Influencers with fake followers will have a bot-heavy followers list. If you look at their list and discover many of their followers have private accounts or no profile photos, chances are they’re from a paid service to boost engagement numbers.

3) Content to Followers Ratio

Most accounts with a few posts and a ton of followers is fake. Real influencers have been posting on some sort of reliable schedule for the past several months or years in order to earn their followers. True audiences aren’t easy to acquire–they only come from regularly engaging a targeted audience with quality posts over time.

4) Life of the Account

Look at the total time the account has been open, not just how much has been posted. If an account is brand new and has a huge follower base, that should be a warning sign. It is possible that an influencer gets a sudden spike of followers because of an Instagram feature, press coverage or a viral post. Dig a little deeper to find out if this is the case.

5) Quality of Engagement

Generic comments like, “Love this!” or “Epic!” are often from bots, not real fans. A telltale sign is when the comment doesn’t accurately reflect on the image, like, “Delicious!” for a picture that’s not food. Quality comments are personalized and more thorough, and the influencer will reply to a handful of them.

6) Additional Websites and Accounts

Influencers should have some type of non-Instagram presence, either through other social media accounts or a personal website. Search for them on Google, too. Their name should pop up somewhere, preferably in an article that ranks influencers or in an interview with them.

Instagram also has a built-in tool for verifying influencers. The “About This Account” feature is available on many accounts with large audiences.

7) Hashtag Use

Ever see posts with more hashtags than actual content? And really, who reads every single one of those hashtags? No one! Influencers with a loyal following don’t have to use hashtags in order to get attention. A couple of hashtags are normal, especially branded ones, but using 20 or more hashtags is a sign that that’s how they’re collecting their engagement instead of through a dedicated follower base – bots often search for photos with specific hashtags.

Conclusion

Social media’s power and popularity enable practically anyone to build a public-facing persona, grow a following, and serve as a pitch person for your brand and its content. And influencer marketing can be a rewarding strategy for your brand in terms of networking, reaching your audience, and making a profit. But make sure you carefully vet and select the influencers you want to work with. Build a loyal fan base by posting meaningful content related to your brand. Only then will followers know you are the real deal.