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Khaleej Times

Look: Influencer Mia Zelu goes viral at Wimbledon; social media users discover she's not real

Annual tennis tournament Wimbledon is a place where celebrities from every industry come out in force — and an event that garners a lot of attention for several reasons. This year, one woman — an influencer called Mia Zelu — seems to have stolen the spotlight. Mia has a 165,000-strong following and went viral after posting several photos of herself at the star-studded sports event. Complete with a stunning fit for the day, and a glossy hairdo, this digital storyteller looks like your average influencer; well-groomed, successful, travelling the world, and throwing in some inspirational quotes. But there's just one problem — she doesn't exist. Who is Mia Zelu? This Instagram personality is an AI influencer who serves up fashion inspiration, with a side of daily moments. She is simply a product of an algorithm, with carefully curated Instagram posts involving AI-generated visuals that appear startlingly human, and cleverly crafted captions. With photos in different settings, the AI-generated influencer closely resembles human tastes. While she has her "everyday life" featuring casual clothes and settings, she also occasionally splurges at concerts, in yachts, and soaking up the sun at beaches. Why did she go viral at Wimbledon? Mia shared photos of her Wimbledon outing, with an inspirational message: "Your time will come. Keep showing up". Commenters agreed with her caption and engaged with her post. While Mia makes it clear on her Instagram profile bio that she is an AI influencer, several commenters remained unaware. Some ask for her outfit details, yet others wish her a good weekend. But in the AI era, one can not be too sure — are the commenters real, or are they a product of AI too? However, some individuals expressed their confusion at the discovery that Mia was AI, having just found out from the news after her Wimbledon post went viral. One Instagram user said "Wait, so you aren't real?! I'm so confused now". Another commented "AI; I just saw on the news." Mia has 165,000 followers, and even a "sister" — Ana Zelu, who boasts 266,000 followers. Ana, like her "sister", is a digital creator who posts "snapshots of her life". The AI debate The two AI influencers are part of a growing trend of humans connecting to chatbots, personalities who don't exist, and tech "friends". Other than not being real, what do they have in common is a human audience who seeks validation through these artificial characters who are instantly available, do not judge, and seem to always listen. However, experts have reiterated time and again that such a dependence on AI personalities will prove harmful in the long run, as they can only provide short-term gratification, and can not take any real action, or provide real support.