Social media is filled with influencers and models, but one virtual model who is rapidly rising to fame is 25-year-old Aitana Lopez, a pink-haired woman from Barcelona(Spain). But this model is not real.
Aitana, the first Spanish influencer created by artificial intelligence, has managed to gain 1.96k followers on Instagram already and earns on an average over NZ$5,000 per month which occasionally goes up to NZ$17,000+. She uploads photos of herself in lingerie, earns from advertisements, and has recently become the face of a sports supplement company. Her most recent Instagram posts show her drinking cocktails on a night out and going to the gym.
She has proven remarkably convincing and even receives messages from celebrities who are unaware that she is not a real person.
“One day, a well-known Latin American actor texted to ask her out. This actor has about 5 million followers,” Rubén Cruz, her designer and founder of the agency The Clueless, told Euronews. “He had no idea Aitana didn’t exist.”
In a world saturated with traditional models and influencers, this innovative Spanish agency crafted Aitana frustrated with the unpredictability, escalating costs of real human models.
Explaining the motivation, Cruz said “We did it so that we could make a better living and not be dependent on other people who have egos, who have manias, or who just want to make a lot of money by posing.”
So the agency created their own beautiful, nearly perfect influencer, and “finally hit the jackpot” with Aitana.
The agency’s creative team decide what Aitana will do during the week, which places she will visit, and which photos will be uploaded for her followers on social media. Her creators are meticulous in maintaining the illusion of genuine life, even sharing real-life moments like a breakfast bowl on her story feed.
But unlike with real models, there are no photo shoots, no wardrobe changes. Design experts just use a mixture of artificial intelligence and Photoshop to change her dresses and make it possible for the model to spend the weekend, for example, in a gym or in a cafe.
“A lot of thought has gone into Aitana. We created her based on what society likes most. We thought about the tastes, hobbies and niches that have been trending in recent years,” explained Cruz.
Even after the revelation that Aitana is an AI creation, she continues to receive love and support from her followers, demonstrating the power of a relatable personality.
The agency has been inundated with requests from brands wanting their own personalised model. After Aitana’s success , her designers have already created a second virtual model called Maia, “a little more shy”. The names were not chosen at random either, both contain the acronym for artificial intelligence (AI).
Aitana’s emergence as a AI model is not unique – though it is Spain’s first, and is a growing trend. There are several very successful unreal influencers, for example, a virtual 3D influencer Lu do Magalu has close to 7 million followers, and Miquela – a 19-years-old robot living in LA, has nearly 3m followers on Instagram.
