‘What type of sick s**t is this’: Fake CGI influencer Lil Miquela claims she was ‘sexually assaulted’
A fake, computer-generated social media influencer and ‘musician’ Lil Miquela has irked some of her 1.8 million followers and many others online after claiming she was “sexually assaulted.”
Dubbed the “first virtual influencer,” Lil Miquela is part influencer, pushing a variety of clothing brands, part activist, vocally supporting Black Lives Matter and LGBT+ rights, and part dystopian nightmare.
Her bio describes her as a “change-seeking robot” and she is the product of an odd AI startup called Brud, whose website consists of a view-only Google document in which the company claims to be based in LA and makes ‘story worlds’ that “create a more tolerant world by leveraging cultural understanding and technology.”
The company also claims that Miquela is “as real as Rihanna.” However, last week the people behind Miquela invoked the wrath of Twitter through an utterly grotesque vlog in which she describes being sexually assaulted by a man during a rideshare, despite being made of pixels.
While the argument could be made that this is art imitating the darker side of life, many online did not appreciate the highly sensitive topic of sexual assault being trivialized by an AI company for clicks – one version of the vlog has been viewed over two million times.
I have so many questions... pic.twitter.com/6Jfv7itPFo
— Green Chyna (@CORNYASSBITCH) December 12, 2019
“Sure enough, I just feel this guy’s cold, meaty hand touch my leg as if he was confirming I’m real. His hand literally lingers there, rubbing my skin,” Miquela recalls as she describes how the “threatening” man touched her leg and asked her inappropriate questions before she got of the car and fled for her life.
The update unleashed an avalanche of criticism, with many accusing the AI company of “preying” on people who experienced sexual assault.
are we officially in an episode of black mirror?
— 𝖋𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖟 ✨ (@faithebacon) December 13, 2019
It’s like whoever is behind this character obviously went through so much to make her as relatable as possibly. They’ve even studied YT videos enough to see what kind of editing is popular RN. They were like “to make her more realistic, let’s pretend she was sexually assaulted”.
— juan thee hedgehog (@TruePlantDad) December 13, 2019
“It’s a fabrication. A dangerous one. There are ways to make @lilmiquela relatable. This isn’t one of them,”wrote one incensed Twitter user.
"As much as I think technology is cool the way the developers preyed on the experience of women (more specifically women of color) is really gross," another added.
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