AI Influencer Digest: Digital Diplomats, Priests, and More

Step into the cutting-edge world of AI influencers, where our relationship with technology is being constantly tested and sometimes strained. I publish a digest like this every two weeks, offering insights into the latest news and developments related to these virtual avatars.

The World's First AI Government Spokesperson

On May 1, Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched Victoria Shi, the world's first AI-generated consular affairs representative. Designed to free up MFA staff for other crucial tasks amidst the war, Victoria engages the public by delivering the latest announcements and statements that are drafted and vetted by human MFA personnel.

While most media outlets focused on how innovative this use case was, some reaction on social media raised questions about the avatar's racial appearance (Victoria is modeled after the Afro-Ukrainian singer Rosalie Nombre), the appropriateness of spending resources on such an initiative in wartime, and why an AI was necessary at all. That latter kind of criticism overlooks the tangible advantages that AI spokespeople can provide any governmental communications operation, whether in wartime or not, a topic I wrote about here. And I imagine Ukraine's proof of concept leads to more government agencies exploring this as a time and resource saver long-term, creating a feedback loop that likely helps normalize AI influencers as another tool in the toolbox for designing government outreach and advocacy campaigns.

AI Priest Faces Backlash

Catholic Answers ' recent experiment with a digital avatar to depict a priest became a lightning rod for online criticism. In introducing "Father Justin," the group stressed this 3D AI character was intended as an educational tool for users seeking information about Catholicism. Father Justin's appearance as a parish priest sought to honor real-life clergy and provide an "authoritative yet approachable" demeanor to the character.

The response from both Catholic and non-Catholic commentators was fierce. Was an AI priest necessary? Doesn't it dilute the profound mystery of faith and raise questions over disembodiment for a religion founded on the embodiment of God? Isn't mediating conversation through an AI app at odds with those seeking community and connection? Doesn't 'ordaining' a robot before a woman only spotlight the church's sexism? And as Futurism reported, the avatar's chat function produced responses on issues like baptizing babies in Gatorade that became fodder for media headlines and social media scorn.

Catholic Answers quickly responded to this "feedback" by reformulating Father Justin into "Justin"—removing his priestly garb and labeling him a "lay character," though the group emphasized the avatar had never been a real priest—and refining the chatbot's parameters.

This episode represents an important boundary line in the roles AI characters and influencers can assume. While public acceptance of chatbots and AI avatars is growing—as friends, 'therapists,' government spokespeople, and even romantic partners—the priesthood still remains a clear taboo, underscoring that there are definitive limits dictated by public taste on how far we are willing to accept or extend the reach of 'digital humans,' at least for now.

Looking at Asia's Virtual Influencer Scene

Two recent op-eds highlight the success of AI-generated influencers in Asian markets to argue such digital avatars are more than just a novelty and something that Western brands need to monitor closely:

• Nico Cron , an influencer expert at WongDoody , writes in HORIZONT on what German brands can learn from the influencer boom in Asia. He discusses virtual humans collaborating with major brands like Porsche (Ayayi), Ikea (Imma), and Adidas (Ruby Gloom). Nico suggests these examples, citing to Ayayi's meteoric rise and fall in China, demonstrate the importance for German brands to remain open and adaptable to such rapidly evolving trends.
• Iva Filipovi? , with EPAM Systems , argues in The Drum that virtual influencers are "not a passing trend," but rather the future of online e-commerce. This piece also references Ayayi, who made her debut livestream appearance alongside a human anchor on the Chinese e-commerce site Tmall in July 2023. Iva underscores that livestreams featuring AI-generated virtual anchors are not only popular in China but also quick and easy to organize— 百度 's platform can reportedly "recreate a digital human anchor in less than 30 minutes using a video of a real person."

AI "Russian" Women Swoon for Chinese Men

The Economist reported on deepfake videos featuring "mostly blonde" Russian women, who, speaking fluent Mandarin, express a desire to "cook, wash clothes, and bear children" for Chinese men. Interestingly, the models used to generate these videos were not always Russian; at least one Ukrainian university student in the United States discovered her likeness was used without her knowledge or permission. These viral social media posts, often used to sell products or "glorify China," have come under increased scrutiny from state regulators for failing to disclose their AI-generated nature. Nevertheless, The Economist expects these blonde avatars to make a comeback in China, as they play to nationalist sentiments.

Spherical Insights LLP recently estimated that the global deepfake AI market is poised to expand from $6.83 billion in 2023 to $119.34 billion in 2033.

"Digital Twins" Bring Value to Fashion, Focus Groups, and Drug Trials

The Wall Street Journal reported on efforts to employ so-called "digital twins"—AI constructed versions of real people, sometimes customers, based on profiles or composite data—for applications including fashion shoots, focus groups, and clinical drug trials.

• AI.Fashion Inc. enables human models to upload photos of themselves, which are then used to generate fashion shoots for brands. The company emphasizes that this approach maintains the centrality of human talent in the process, rather than replacing it, while cutting brands' "time and?spend?by 30-50%." Moreover, this approach allows for more localized content and a higher degree of personalization, enabling consumers to see clothing on a variety of body types in different environments.
• Built upon a dataset comprised of interviews with 27,000 actual individuals, Brox.AI aims to provide brands with a cheaper and less time consuming alternative to organizing traditional focus groups.
• Unlearn.AI develops digital twins using baseline data from participants in clinical drug trials, which are then used for modeling and predictive forecasting. These twins can serve as substitutes for the placebo group, enabling all participants in such trials to receive potentially life-altering medications.

According to the WSJ, Gartner estimates that companies could "have digital twins for every single one of their customers" within the next ten years.

Use Blockchain to Verify Influencer Humanity?

Sandy Carter , COO at Unstoppable Domains , writes in Forbes that the increasing ease and falling costs of creating and deploying AI influencers threatens to further erode trust online, with severe consequences for platforms like TikTok and Instagram , marketers, and human content creators. She argues that incorporating blockchain technology to track a piece of content's origin offers a viable, unfalsifiable solution to provide transparency for consumers and verify whether social media profiles are human or AI.