In South Korea, a company has developed an AI that has created a virtual influencer: Rozy has already secured more than 100 sponsorship deals and is on the verge of earning one million US dollars in advertising money. The creators of the character rave about her advantages: She does not age, never gets sick, and is absolutely scandal-free.
This is Rozy:
- The 22-year-old South Korean works as an influencer on Instagram, has over 66,000 followers there, and is entirely virtual. She comes from a computer, created by artificial intelligence, which now manages her Instagram account.
- Rozy is swimming in cash: She has already secured 100 sponsorship deals. The company behind her believes she will reach 1 billion Korean won in 2021, which is about 854,000 US dollars.
- Her creators rave about the advantages she has over “real” people.
Designed to appeal to Millennials
What is known about Rozy: Like a real influencer, Rozy shares a lot of information about her life, even though she has none. She is 1.71 meters tall and adopts the motto “Hakuna Matata”, which means “Watch Disney’s Lion King.”
She loves surfing, skateboarding, and running. She is also an advocate for environmental protection.
In fact, she stems from the 3D technology of a studio and has been designed to appeal to Millennials and Gen Z members. She can adopt nearly 800 different facial expressions, and her movements are based on an actress.
During the first 3 months of her existence as an influencer on Instagram, supposedly not a single viewer noticed that she is not real: Rozy was created in August 2020; it was revealed in December that she is virtual. By then, many fans had already written her messages, wanting to meet her in real life.
One of her most successful advertising deals is for a life insurance company, where she appears as a model. The video has now received over 11 million views on YouTube and shows how a young woman dances without reason through a forest, subway, and supermarket. Apparently, she is happy that she is so well insured.
Does not age, never gets sick, and has no annoying past
What her creators say: The CEO of the company behind Rozy, Baek Seung Yeo, highlights the advantages of Rozy over real people:
“Nowadays, celebrities sometimes retreat due to school, violence, scandals, or because they are being harassed. A virtual person has no scandals to worry about. She is not only 100% drama-free but will also never age beyond 22 years and will never get sick. Additionally, there is nothing from her past that could come to light – because she has no past to worry about.”
Baek Seung Yeo, CEO Sidus Studio X
Are there any others like Rozy? Since 2016, “Miquela Sousa” has been active on Instagram. She has already gained 3 million followers and comes from the technology startup Brud in Los Angeles. Lil Miquela has generated over 11 million US dollars.
In the gaming influencer scene, there are now very successful “VTubers” who calmly accept even large donations.
The virtual influencer “Projekt Melody” once had trouble on Twitch because one of her creators laid claim to her body.
This is what it’s about: The “influencer” market is considered an important growth market. Between 2019 and 2022, the budget for influencer advertising in the US is expected to rise from 8 billion US dollars to 15 billion US dollars. This is what experts at Bloomberg believe. Especially during the Corona crisis, virtual influencers had significant advantages over their “regular competitors”.
It is quite possible that in the future, not only influencers and their agencies will draw money from this pot but also technology companies that create their own virtual influencers.
Not always is what we expect behind influencers:
Young influencer turns out to be a 50-year-old man: “No one wants to see the old uncle”
