Computer-Generated Virtual Influencers Starts Scary Precedent

 Grayson Wolf 

gw825219@ohio.edu

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The start of these virtual influencers is unprecedented. Millions of people following these fake virtual people is something I have never seen or heard about before today. Learned all about them in this detailed report by The New York Times.

These virtual influencers come off on social media sites as real people, promoting authentic products and living what seems to be real lives. The problem is that they are computer-generated and not even close to being accurate or having feelings.

I feel as though this sets a dirty precedent for promoting and advertising. When you promote, you want your consumers to be able to trust the backing of the person they see in the promotion. That is why so much promotion comes through social media stars and celebrities.

When it comes from these fake, computer-generated influencers, they can say whatever they are programmed to say. This situation is a problem because there is no natural backing of the product from a real human being. There is no thought process of a real human being on whether or not they want to promote the brand and product.

I can see where this is not as much of a moral or ethical dilemma when doing advertisements. When making a commercial, you just hire actors that do not care what the product is anyway. These actors do not have much of a say in the product they are advertising. If a company wants just to use a virtual influencer, so they do not have to do multiple takes and multiple days to create the commercial, I do not see a problem with that other than taking away an acting job from an actor.

In this video done by the Today Show, we learn more about how virtual influencers are created. We also get to hear from a follower of these virtual influencers and hear their thoughts on them.

Social media affects the younger generation, showing them how to live. Children these days are listening more to what people on social media have to say about lifestyles than their parents.

These computer-generated people with perfect bodies and hair are just giving the younger generation of girls a standard that is impossible to reach because these influencers are, in fact, not real. It damages a person's mental health when they try to reach these incredibly high beauty standards and end up not reaching them.

I hope these new "influencers" do not become the new normal.