The reality of 2018 and beyond is that, in some ways, the fake has already become almost more 'natural' than the organic. We are used to fake foods, flavours, everything is presented to us packaged or processed and bodies have become more altered in the ways of cosmetic surgery. It has all become a seamless part of everyday life.
The Washington Post recently reported that soon, the most beautiful people in the world may no longer be human. Scary. But they're not talking about artificially intelligent robots, either.
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Cameron-James Wilson, an innovative young London photographer has created Shudu, the world's very first digital influencer and model. She has 137K followers at the moment, and her following is growing fast.
An image of her wearing Rihanna's Fenty x Beauty has even been shared on social media.
She is fantastical.
She looks freakishly human. But also not. Which blur the lines between what is real and fantasy - talk about unrealistic standards of beauty?!
Or is it just tech's way to slowly but surely introduce us to virtual reality, in palatable form.
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Lil Miquela is another such example. She is a stylish avatar with over a million followers. And she even made Time's 25 most influential people on the Internet list of 2018.
Is the extinction of the modelling industry imminent? Goodbye human supermodels, hello avatars? Will we soon be sold all of our processed and packaged goods, clothing and surgeries by those who don't even exist?
Possibly.
According to News.com.au there is big bucks in this. We know what the earning potential of influencers is, and if you have millions of followers the sky's the limit. The creators cash in while their creation does all the work. Sounds like the ideal passive income.
Plus digital creatures can be controlled, they never need a holiday and stay perfectly flawless forever.
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But is this the future?
Like this article says, some companies might jump on this as it's the opportunity to capitalise on someone (something?) who is completely unique. Manufactured digitally for their needs, a pseudo-person might be preferred by many companies, while others might just stick with the real deal.
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