Artificial intelligence influencers may seem like a very distant and even somewhat crazy idea, right?
You may be wondering what madness is this Cork Kids Bicycle Shop that society is experiencing, when a character that doesn't even exist can be so influential in people's lives. But the truth is that those characters exist in people's lives...
The human being is capable of relating, feeling empathy and even treating robots as if they were people. We interact with the world from our body and our behaviors, therefore, we are able to interact socially with unreal things .
In the case of AI influencers, we are talking about robots that are actually very human-like. In some cases, they may not even look alike, but they are able to express themselves like us.
They have their own identity. And as human beings that we are, they are capable of awakening our identification and empathy. Similarly, they can also disappoint us and hurt us emotionally. So it may be that they do not exist physically, but they have a meaning in the lives of those who follow and admire them .
It is even necessary to understand the power of AI influencers in the context of the digital age in which we live. This idea becomes more understandable when we start talking about the metaverse , that is, an immersive digital future, in which we are going to live a large part of our lives in virtual realities.
The rise of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) is also in this context where digital life becomes more important than physical life. Artworks and collectibles, which only exist virtually, sell for thousands or millions of dollars, in currencies that are also virtual.
So if life becomes (or is already becoming) essentially digital, it's easier to understand why people are naturally relating to these virtual characters . It is also understandable that brands look closely at these influencers, since they have the power to relate and communicate with people in this new universe.
In the metaverse, via avatars, these interactions probably won't be as weird as they seem now.