According to this Financial Times article, AI-based, virtual influencers are gaining traction. There's a lot to be said about the practice, especially in terms of what this means for people who work as influencers, models, or similar professions.

Synthetic personalities are nothing new. Back when I still covered web3 (through my old newsletter, Block & Mortar) I came across a variety of virtual models that were employed for photo shoots and the like. And when I read about a virtual band called Kingship, based on some Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) characters, it hit me:

These digital characters aren't just cheaper than their human counterparts; they represent a smaller downside risk exposure.

As I wrote about Kingship in 2022:

When a label backs a band, or when a film studio backs an actor, they’re investing in high-profile people with real lives and real personalities. It’s entirely possible that there will be some messy story in the press. The scandalous love affair. The shocking drug habit. The old, racist tweet rant that somehow slipped through the nonexistent due-diligence exercise.

Every time one of those celebrities gets in trouble, it represents a potential cash leak for their investors. [...] We imagine that record labels would love to close off those sources of risk.

So, back to Kingship. Those BAYC characters? They only have the life and personality that they are given. They only “exist” when and where the company wants them to. They can’t get into trouble. And because this arrangement lets Universal decompose the notion of a “music group” into its constituent parts of “personality,” “songwriting,” and “performance” – it can leave each facet to an expert in that domain. These BAYC band members are the perfect, low-risk celebrities – wrapped up tight like a movie script.