Intertextuality in the Body Designs of AI-Based Virtual Influencers

Abstract

This study approaches virtual humans by foregrounding their material dimensions and exploring how virtual stars present visual images and the mythical connections that influence the images they create. We analyze characters named Lu do Magalu, Lil Miquela, Barbie, Thalasya, Noonoouri, Imma, Bermuda, Rozy, Ay Pera, Alara X, Hatsune Miku, and Shudu, selected through purposive sampling, considering their posts on Instagram. We employ intertextuality and its variant, mythological intertextuality, to identify how the creators of these avatars draw on myths, archetypes, and modern cultural contexts in the physical design and construction of their bodies. We discuss our findings by engaging with the views of scholars such as Carl Jung and Jean Baudrillard. In summary, we conclude that virtual influencers are visually created and embodied through inspiration from both archaic and modern myths and archetypes; their flawless and sterile bodies are transcended and idealized like mythological heroes, their eroticized and exposed bodies are presented as objects of desire, and the gender roles they adopt reproduce patriarchal myths. Additionally, it has been observed that through their fluid bodily images and design, they become mythologized and function as a type of simulacrum.