"I feel it’s very dystopian" : Exploring User Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Virtual Influencers

Sammanfattning: Virtual influencers (VIs), computer-generated characters, can act as a medium to influence followers on social media platforms. This is a relatively novel phenomenon, with popular VIs having over six million followers. This study investigates VIs from the perspective of human-computer interaction. Nine participants from four countries were interviewed about their interactions with a variety of fictional VIs in different settings. The study uncovers new user perceptions and attitudes towards VIs, including pessimism towards VIs, loss of trust and likeability towards virtual characters, and the perception of VIs as being run by artificial intelligence (AI). It was found that content relating to fitness, personal tips, and social activism demands more transparency about the authority and agency of the VI from the users. Finally, this study discusses the ethical implications of VIs, highlights an avenue of research in the AI domain, and makes suggestions for human-computer interaction (HCI) practitioners curating social media experiences.