Like most young men who grew up in The Aughts, Brittney Spears was my first crush. When she shaved her head it made me start thinking about what global recognition does to a human being. Humans aren’t made to cope with a world of people knowing who you are, what you look like, and having preconceived ideas about you.
In 2016 Lil Miquala was born out of an art project by Trevor McFedries and Sara DeCou. Miquala is a CGI Influencer, a model, and a musical artist. Miquala is globally known with millions of followers on Instagram, has an origin story the world knows, is in the spotlight constantly — but she never cracks under pressure. She never shaves her head.
She’s the perfect face for brands because she never gets bad PR.
Virtual influencers will be the de facto face of brands in the future. They can be the first physical representation of the brand. They never grow old. They never make mistakes. And there will be marketing agencies that specialize in creating these virtual influencers for brands and running their profiles.
What is CGI model?
A CGI model is a character that models products for brands. These models are CGI generated, but often are designed over real models who pose in the products. The design team takes these real photos and then edits them so the virtual influencers are the models.
These CGI models have lives as well. They have friends who they pose with in photos. They have drama between each other. They share life events and the trials their currently navigating. They have human stories, and typically the teams who run these accounts refer to them as androids.
CGI models aren’t a new idea. Since computer graphics have been used they have existed. But what’s different this time is the market context, social media has created a platform for these digital models to be seen, be heard, and have their lives curated into a story that feels so real you can buy into it.
Can CGI influencers cause real world problems?
The rise of CGI influencers blurs the line further between digital and physical. The actions these individuals make can have an impact on culture, and this has real world implications. The narratives these agencies craft for these influencers can help guide public discourse and social initiatives. At this point, these influencers have been more progressive. But it is a matter of time before these practices get adopted by every political and economic leaning.
CGI influencers also have the ability to decimate industries. If brands start to prefer to work with digital influencers because they are less risky that a physical person, industries could be turned upside down. The creative backend that goes into the product of media and art will still exist, but the forward facing roles that exist in the creative industries will be stunted.
CGI Influencers List
Below is a list of the robot influencers on Instagram. These CGI virtual influencers and virtual instagram influencers are run by agencies and do brand collaborations.
- Lil Miquela
- Shudu
- Bermuda
- Blawko22
- Imma
- Liam Nikuro
- Brenn
- Laila Blue
- ＢＩＮＸＩＥ
- Guggimon
- Cadeharper
- Janky
- Alizarexx
- aliona_pole
- Liam_nikuro
- aoiprism
- lil_wavi 8.7K
- perl.www
- pippapei
- lewis_hiro_newman
- daisypaigey
- ria_ria_tokyo
