Create your own robot influencer

Interested in working with influencers and at the same time be in full control over the content? Then robot influencers might be just the thing for you! A robot influencer is an animated, fictive person who is operating its own social media accounts. We’ve gathered some good-to-know info for anyone who has their mind set upon creating their very own digital profile.

The most fascinating and realistic looking digital influencers today are Lil Miquela, with 1,5 million (!) followers on Instagram, and Shudu, the world’s first digital supermodel.

You’re in total control

You decide the opinions, actions, cooperations, looks, personality and age of your robot influencer. You won’t have to take another person’s schedule, other commitments, wills, feelings and needs into account. In other words, you get to play God.

Be first

The phenomenon is still relatively new, which makes it possible for anyone to break new ground. You have the chance to get some enormous publicity and since the public has shown great interest for these robots and follow their everyday life intensely, it’ll lead to not so very humble results when it comes to interactions, engagement and reach.

It’s on you

Even though the idea of getting to decide every little detail in the making of your robot is compelling, there are some things to think about before diving right in. Without falling into philosophical reasoning about what existence is, we dare to argue that these robots are not real. That does not mean that you, as the owner of the robot, won’t have to take full responsibility for your robot’s actions, opinions, and looks.

A perfect example of this is the reactions around Shudu, the world’s first digital supermodel. Shudu is black and her owner is the white man and photographer Cameron-James Wilsom. Critics mean he’s taking advantage of the movement fighting for increasing the non-white people’s representation in the public, without having to actually work with any real, black person. Many argue that a white man neither can or should represent a black woman.

With that said, it’s important being able to foresee and prepare oneself for whatever consequences the choice of looks, actions and opinions could be.

Do it properly

In November 2018, Isabella Löwengrip was the first Swedish person to enter the field. She created her very own animated clone, Gabrielle Löwengrip. Through her own Instagram account, Gabrielle posts about her everyday life in New York, surrounded by beauty and luxury. The account grew fast in followers (around 17 000) but a lot of them were skeptical and mostly impatient, wanting to see what Gabrielle actually looked like since all the existing photos either were of her feet, hands or captured in backlight. The expectations were high, to say the least, when Isabella showed a photo of Gabrielle’s face, with the explanation that is wasn’t completely ready yet.

So, if you’re about to create your very own digital influencer:

- Do it properly
- Plan it thoroughly and structuralized
- Make sure you’ve completed the robot before introducing it to the world