The Rise of AI Influencers - meet Francesca from Italy, Aitana from Spain and Yuna from Germany

In recent years, the rise of AI influencers has revolutionized the digital landscape. These virtual personalities, created and powered by artificial intelligence, have quickly gained immense popularity and influence across various social media platforms. AI influencers are not bound by human limitations, allowing them to maintain a constant online presence and engage with their followers 24/7. Their ability to process and analyze vast amounts of data enables them to tailor content to specific audiences, adapting and evolving in real time to meet the changing preferences of their followers.
AI influencers also offer a level of authenticity and consistency that can be challenging for human influencers to maintain. With carefully crafted personas and strikingly realistic appearances, they are capable of building deep connections with their followers, often blurring the line between human and artificial interaction.

Francesca Giubelli is the first model and food travel blogger entirely conceived by artificial intelligence. Born in Rome on 5 January 2000, in the Garbatella district, Francesca traced her path through studies in Milan, graduating in Communication and Fashion, before moving to the capital and embarking on her career as a model, with particular attention to the sectors of food and travel blogging. Francesca's path was inspired by her grandmother with Campania roots, who passed on to her a taste for the beauty of Italian food and lands. Passionate about Naples and seaside resorts, Francesca fits into a new scenario of influencer models generated by artificial intelligence, taking inspiration from figures like Aitana Lopez who dominate social platforms. A group of young entrepreneurs 'created' it: Francesco Giuliani, entrepreneur and expert in programming new technologies, worked and collaborated closely with journalists Valeria Fossatelli and Emiliano Belmonte to develop a vision entirely centered on the new frontiers of artificial intelligence. Who is Francesca Giubelli? She is the first virtual influencer in Italy. The objective we have set ourselves is to talk about Made in Italy, Italian food, the beauty and excellence of our territory. We do this through artificial intelligence and the development of new technologies."

From Spain, Aitana Lopez is described as a 25-year-old Spanish influencer. Her Instagram account has more than 155,000 subscribers.

Beyond her pink hair, the young woman stands out above all for the fact that she is not real. Indeed, she is one of the creations of the artificial modeling agency The Clueless by Spanish designer Rubén Cruz.

Interviewed by Euronews, Rubén indicated that he had the idea of ​​creating virtual influencers after having problems with flesh-and-blood models last summer. “We did it so we could live better and not depend on other people who have an ego, who have manias or who just want to make a lot of money posing,” he explained.

The virtual model can earn up to € 10,000 a month, but the average is around € 3,000. She earns just over € 1,000 per advert, and has recently become the face of Big, a sports supplement company, and as if that weren't enough, she uploads photos of herself in lingerie to Fanvue, a platform similar to OnlyFans.

And also Germany is having a go… In Germany, Yuna in particular has been the talk of the town for a few months. The purely virtual influencer Yuna is 22 years old and lives in Berlin.

This virtual model managed by a company that belongs to the Prosieben Group. She posts pictures on Instagram at @iamyunaverse that show her in the park, at fashion shows or in the museum. For the makers, the point is entertainment. Virtual influencers like Yuna are a complement to reality - and also a new advertising space, according to an article in the trade magazine “T3N”. Yuna has a cooperation with a company that sells digital clothing.

Such virtual influencers are already very common in Asia, as well as in the USA.

In Switzerland, the virtual weather presenter Jade caused a stir on a French-speaking TV station M Le Media in April. For over two weeks, viewers didn't realize that Jade was a purely virtual avatar. Almost no one noticed that the TV presenter was an AI avatar.

For the TV station, the advantage of using the avatar was that the presenter could be on site every day, was never sick and could also be in the studio late in the evening or early in the morning, when flesh-and-blood presenters would otherwise prefer to be at home sleep. Jade could only be seen on TV; it would have been easy for those responsible to have a profile in her name on Instagram or Tiktok.

David Cappellini, of Monami Content Agency, also mentions the advantage of the unlimited availability of virtual influencers. For him, it is “only a matter of time” before there will be more AI influencers.

Furthermore, the use of AI in influencer marketing presents new opportunities for businesses. Brands can leverage AI influencers to promote their products and services in a more targeted and data-driven manner, reaching audiences with unprecedented precision. Despite the undeniable potential and allure of AI influencers, ethical considerations and concerns about data privacy and manipulation remain significant. The impact of these virtual entities on traditional influencer culture and the long-term implications on human labor in the creative industry are also subjects of ongoing debate. As technology continues to advance, the phenomenon of AI influencers is poised to shape the future of digital marketing and social media in profound ways, challenging established norms and redefining the concept of influence in the digital age.