Do you follow Kyra on instagram? She is from Mumbai and describes herself as a ‘dream chaser, model and traveler’. She has 2.5 lakh followers, and claims to be India’s first virtual influencer. There are many like her out there in the social media world. As of now there are nearly 200 and counting. Virtual beings that propel us to buy things and experiences through their posts and interactions. Kyra, created by Himanshu Goel of FUTR Studios, has already partnered with many brands including American Tourister, Budweiser, and MG Motors.

So who or what is a virtual influencer? It can be non-human, like the famous ‘Gecko’, animated humans like Barbie, and life-like CGI humans. The most famous globally in the last category is Lil Miquela. Born in 2016 in Los Angeles, she has partnered with brands such as Nike, Calvin Klein, and Samsung and has over 2.8 million followers. Korea’s Oh Rozy developed in August 2020, has reportedly secured over 100 sponsorship deals, and is now acquiring siblings too! They’re created by 3D artists using CGI (computer-generated imagery), motion-capture technology and AI tools. Their creators make them look and act in a manner that their personalities attract a core target audience. These digital avatars are entirely fictional. They interact with their audience through social media posts, videos, comments and even virtual appearances.

Why they are gaining prominence is because brands are discovering their advantages over real life influencers. As per reports virtual influencer marketing will be an estimated $ 2.8 billion -3.5 billion in 2028 as more brands leverage them to promote their products. For brands they are cheaper, more versatile, scalable, can be integrated to various platforms and tweaked to the brand at any time. The virtual influencer does not age, does not need rest, does not get embroiled in scandals, doesn’t throw tantrums, and sticks to the storyline it is created for.

As the march of these virtual influencers continues, it throws up many questions too. The avatars are becoming uncannily realistic. Oh Rozy’s 800 expressions are based on a human model. As technology becomes more sophisticated, virtual influencers are becoming interactive, respond to posts and hold interactive Q& A sessions.

As it becomes increasingly difficult for a user to distinguish between an avatar and a real human problems can arise, especially in the advertising space. In India guidelines were issued in January this year that mandate social media influencers as well as virtual avatars promoting products and services online to disclose promotional content in their social media engagements.

There is the risk of inherent biases of the creators creeping in the engagement of the virtual influencers. The flawless bodies and lifestyles the avatars project can put even more pressure on young social media audiences. Digital humans are now coming into the music industry, fashion, news anchor business and the list is growing. Will they displace humans in these fields? It is a tough question to answer. As of now it seems more of a shared space, where human are appearing along with well established virtual avatars in the media. The era of humans engaging with generative AI has only just begun.

Appeared in Lokmat Times in November 2023