Aitana Lopez — a.k.a. Fit Aitana — has only been on Instagram for 4 months, but she already has 110,000 followers and generates over €4,000 ($4,271) in monthly revenue — not bad for someone who doesn’t even exist. Virtual models have been around for a few years now, and the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has only made them more realistic and more popular. Aitana, the pink-haired female model from Barcelona only appears in photos, since videos would likely make her digital form a bit too obvious. Aitana is the brainchild of the Barcelona-based communication agency The Clueless, whose management decided to invest in virtual models because of the high costs associated with using real models, including travel expenses and accommodations. Not only is Aitana attractive, the agency made sure her look, fashion style, and overall personality fit today’s online trends, thus ensuring her popularity on social media platforms. One of the things that sets Aitana apart from all the other AI-generated models is her human-like appearance, which includes physical flaws like wrinkles or small blemishes. The agency believes that AI will play a big role in the future of modeling because it offers a level of specialization that’s impossible to achieve with human models.
