SEOUL / HELSINKI “I came to Soho to shop,” Instagram influencer Rozy says in her publication on May 2.
“Hope you have a great time in New York!!” a follower commented.
“Thank you, it really is,” Rozy replies.
Suddenly, the content looks the same as any social media influencer.
Rosy however, is a virtual influencer and on a virtual journey.
He was created in his native South Korea three years ago. Since then, she has been traveling, going to restaurants with her friends, posing in amazing outfits and promoting products from gel nails to electric cars. He has also released two singles.
Last year he forged according to its creators, a profit of about 1.5 million dollars.
Will virtual influencers like Rozy soon take jobs away from real social media influencers?
Finnish influencers: Scary and fascinating
Virtual influencers are a growing trend in the world. They are particularly strong in South Korea, Japan and China.
One of the world’s most famous virtual influencers, created in Los Angeles With Lil Miquela currently has 2.8 million followers.
The phenomenon is also taking its first steps in Finland.
In April, the Helsinki energy company Helen presented a machine-generated child character Ellen’swho shares information on energy issues on Instagram.
Finland’s first virtual influencer was Myrsky, announced in 2021, who spoke about the mental health of young people in a project that lasted half a year.
Tumbler Nelli Orell21, took a group photo at the time With the storm and says that he was excited about the possibilities brought by virtual influencers.
– I believe that it is the future. Over there in Korea, the mood is already pretty cool. Scary and fascinating, says Orell while browsing through the flow of images of Korean influencers.
asked Orelli and another well-known Finnish influencer, Pupulandia Jenni from Roto to evaluate the content of their virtual “competitors”.
– I see the risks that what is real and what is not becomes blurred here, says Rotonen.
The computer draws the face in five seconds
In practice, the figures are still largely made by human forces, he says Si Eun Choi. Sitting in his office in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, he introduces Lucy, the virtual human he created.
Lucy according to his background story, is a 29-year-old industrial designer who works as a model. He runs Youtube streams where he sells Lotte Home Shopping products.
Lotte Home shopping is a popular Korean shopping channel and online store that created Lucy as its face a couple of years ago. The company wanted an eternally young, tireless live presenter who can handle live broadcasts and doesn’t change as he gets older.
The company believes that Lucy will become cheaper than human presenters when her character can be automated as technology develops.
For now, the videos and pictures still use a human model, onto which Lucy’s face is implanted using artificial intelligence. Similar technology is used in movies and video games.
– Our goal is that within three years everything will be done mechanically, Si Eun Choi explains.
He leads a team focused on digital people at Lotte Home Shopping.
For now, Lucy’s voice also comes from the model, but the aim is for the artificial intelligence tool to produce her own voice for Lucy already this year.
When the human model moves, the computer “draws” Lucy’s face in real time in place of the model’s face.
The delay in live broadcasts is five seconds.
The graphic artist of the video production company 4by4 polishes Lucy’s face.
There are “risks” associated with people
Corona accelerated development.
Korean companies like virtual characters more and more because they can be controlled as you like.
– There are “human risks” associated with humans. If there is some uproar, the plan to film the commercial may collapse. It’s good that Lucy doesn’t have such problems, says Si Eun Choi.
Virtual people can also be in Paris today and Tokyo tomorrow – with a few clicks. Real descriptions would require more time and money. And virtual characters don’t have to learn new skills.
– If we sell something in Thailand, for example, Lucy can immediately perform in Thai. Overcoming such physical and time constraints is the biggest advantage, says Choi.
Marimekko collaborated with the Japanese virtual influencer Imma in November 2022:
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Advertisers in Finland are also certainly interested in using virtual influencers, Eero Prusila believes. He is the client lead of the influencer marketing agency Monochrome.
Influencers tend to take liberties when doing commercial collaborations, and according to Prusila, companies cannot fully control the end result.
Virtual influencers are also attractive from the perspective of risks related to human life.
– Risks can be significantly better managed with a virtual influencer, but on the other hand there is a contradiction: failures and life’s challenges create part of the influencer’s story, which can also be exploited commercially, Prusila reflects.
He finds the Korean examples a bit boring because the content of the accounts is quite generic and commercial. He does not yet see their benefits as significant compared to the effort.
In depth, virtual people lose to real ones, and the engagement figures of the audience are not dizzying for any virtual influencers, says Prusila. Engagement refers to how faithfully the audience likes or comments and shares the content of the account.
Eero Prusila hopes that virtual influencers would offer “more extreme” experiences than imitating a person. He raises, for example deepfake videosin which the Harry Potter characters were brought to life as models for the luxury clothing brand Balenciaga.
Nelli Orell would also like to see what virtual influencers are capable of at their best.
– I would like to see an influencer who adventures in space. It would be fascinating if things were done that are specifically not possible for humans, says Orell.
In Jenni Rotonen’s opinion, virtual influencers would ideally be used for something other than selling, for example to spread factual information based on science.
If fictitious social media influencers recommend products, the recommendations are not based on anything, Rotonen emphasizes. The mannequins just uncritically repeat the advertiser’s sentences.
– If a character advertises makeup or a skin care product, it doesn’t even have skin. Would you go on a beach vacation to a certain destination on Aku Anka’s recommendation? He asks.
Rotosta also speculates on what kind of uses the parties behind the profiles harness them for. A few years ago, between two virtual influencers was created artificial quarrel.
In any case, avoiding mistakes is not sustainable in the long term, Finnish influencers say.
– The Kardashians have had a million buzzes, and it has precisely made them the way they are. Is it boring if nothing happens to the virtual influencer? Orell asks.
– At first, Lucy and Rozy felt a bit unnatural. After I have followed their content, it has become more familiar and interesting, says the Seoul native Da Jung Kim29 (center).
– At first I thought Lucy was right. But regardless of whether he’s real or not, I like his social content, Kyeong Eun Lim24, says.
– I recently left Lucy a comment and asked where she got her hat from. Lucy replied. I would buy a product, whether it was advertised by a virtual influencer or a celebrity, Ji Yeon Yoo26, says.
Finland is not the best market
Made in the USA according to an online survey 35 percent of consumers have bought products or services that were recommended by virtual influencers.
Culturally, Finland is not the best ground for virtual influencers, says Monochrome’s Eero Prusila. According to him, Finns value genuine human contacts and transparency.
So far, Jenni Rotonen is not worried that artificial intelligence will take away her work. In the end, people’s thoughts are the most interesting on Social media, he says.
Nelli Orell believes that a relationship can arise with a virtual character just like with a real one. For example, he considers Snapchat’s AI bot to be surprisingly human-like.
However, social media is associated with surprise and responsiveness, which cannot all be scripted, he points out.
Orell would like to collaborate with a virtual influencer.
– Really! It would be lovely. It would be really cool to make a dance video. Then you could make that dance go perfectly in the same way.
However, the most interesting in dancers are usually the human differences, says Orell.
You can discuss the topic on 13.6. until 11 p.m.