Loving The Alien: Why AI Will Be The Key To Unlocking Consumer Affection

The consumer relationship with artificial intelligence (AI) has had its rough patches. But initial terror at the specter of job-gobbling automation and affront at the insurgence of'inhuman' interactions is waning as the promise of support, entertainment, connectivity and even protection emerges - presenting retailers who dare to deal in the un-real with major opportunities. The sentiment was starkly illustrated when Italian fashion giant Prada promoted its Autumn/Winter 2018 catwalk show in league with'Instagram's first virtual influencer', superseding the fashion industry's vast pool of human bloggers, many of whom now represent retail's heftiest marketing spends. Lil Miquela, who may or may not be based on an LA-based blogger, is a bone fide CGI superstar; as of May 2018, she has a whopping 1.1M Instagram followers, a figure that's rocketed from an already robust 600k during the February show. She teased followers with videos, GIFs of the new collection and archival pieces, Instagram stories (micro videos) and even a tour of the venue via a drone that she controlled before the show kicked off.