Korean AI virtual human "YT" (와이티) world's first to throw an opening pitch (plus my thoughts on AI influencers)

This post was originally simply about a "virtual influencer" throwing an opening pitch at a ballgame. But I expanded it to include a lot of my thinking on the topic of using these digital humans. So strap in.

Virtual influencers in the Korean market

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know I've documented the appearance of several "virtual humans" (가상인간), mostly in the form of AI-derived "influencers" and models who serve to promote various products and services in Korea. 

• They've appeared in K-dramas as virtual actresses alongside real human actors. 
• You can go on virtual blind dates with them based on your MBTI
• Or go on slightly more real dates. 
• They can be newbies or well-known soccer stars or actors. 
• You can play games with them or virtual tennis. 
• They even now officially promote tourism to South Korea. 

YT - first virtual human to throw opening pitch

One such virtual human caught my eye this week for apparently having done a world's first. 

The large Korean conglomerate SSG aka Shinsegae (신세계) brought out their virtual model "YT" to throw the first pitch at one of this season's baseball games for their team SSG Incheon Landers (formerly known as SK Wyverns). 

YT throwing the first pitch. Image: Yonhap

The game was held August 10, 2022 in their home stadium in Incheon against the KT Wiz. 

"YT" (와이티) is meant to stand for "young twenties" for how she looks and for which demographic she's meant to appeal to. Usually utilized for fashion modeling of clothing they sell and other various promotions, this time she made an appearance at the stadium on the big jumbotron to "pitch" the first ball. 

YT as "she" appeared on the big screen, "pitching" the "ball". Image: Herald Economic Daily

Korean media report this as the first time ever that an opening pitch was thrown by a virtual human. 

YT appeared on the big screen, gave a wind up, and "threw" the ball to what looks to be #20 catcher Lee Jae-won (이재원). As far as I can tell from video of the event, the ball itself was virtual (i.e. completely imaginary) too. There didn't seem to be any stand-in or substitute "flesh bag" pitcher there. 

The catcher got into position, opened his glove, and as the "ball" was thrown on screen, he seemed to close his glove at the appropriate time, with the stadium announcer enthusiastically shouting "He caught it!" though I am 99.9% sure I could hear a tongue-in-cheek tone from him. 

Afterward YT did a little victory dance mouthing the letters Y T and showing off her smoking hot virtual body, I mean showing off the fact that she is apparently wearing Lee's jersey number? Not sure what's going on there. 

Video of YT's opening baseball pitch

Here are a few links I found to videos taken by fans who were actually present so you can see the event for yourself. 

가상인간이 야구장?에서 시구 ㅋㅋㅋ - YouTube

SSG 가상 인물 와이티 시구 영상 - YouTube

Or on YT's official Instagram:

와이티_가상신세대 (@yt_likes) • Instagram photos and videos

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 와이티_가상신세대 (@yt_likes)

Judging by the reactions of the surrounding fans in the videos, it sure sounds to me like they were a little underwhelmed, or found the whole premise a bit ridiculous. That loud 뭐야 really sums it all up. What is this? What's the point exactly? Novelty I guess. 

Why do we need virtual humans? 

Overall it's not hard to see the attraction of a virtual human model, especially for advertisements: no scandals, no royalty payments, no aging looks, plus the novelty and high-tech wow factor. 

There have already been attempts to make virtual K-pop groups, like Eternity (이터니티), or other boy or girl groups. [See here or here]. Once they get over the uncanny valley, I can easily imagine these things becoming popular, and holding virtual concerns in VR metaverses that cost real money, or doing special personalized greetings to top fan club donors. Everything is always about money, and though it looks stupid from our timeframe, I would not be surprised if this kind of thing catches on in any element where looks matter. Even from a simple practical perspective, imagine asking a hired model to try on 100 different outfits to model for an online shopping website. Now imagine scanning them and having the virtual human model them and have immersive interactive fitting videos generated immediately for each outfit. It's coming. 

How should we treat or address a virtual human? 

But this makes me feel a little strange to see them treated like real humans. I don't mind calling YT a "virtual influencer" (버추얼 인플루언서) since that is literally her job. I only sort of feel weird addressing her as a "her." 

But look at YT's name on the big screen here. She's suffixed with the title of 님. 

와이티님 Image: 당긴재 YouTube screenshot

Does an AI creation deserve to have honorific titles? Am I supposed to ask Mr. Google to turn on my lights? Or Ms. Alexa? I can see that Korean itself sort of needs some kind of title here, moreso than English probably would, and maybe it's more an expression of the speaker being polite than giving any supposed honor or politeness or formality to the object. Still, it feels weird. 

So I'm glad we somehow decided that "smart assistants" would be spoken to in 반말. It's a servant, after all. I'm not speaking to it formally or politely. 

But what about when they are "embodied" and have faces? Should we speak formally or politely to them, especially in Korean where grammar itself marks these things? 

They know each other's social position and have 눈치

They themselves apparently think so. If I can call them "they." Here was a funny comment from another AI virtual influencer, Rozy (created by Sidus Studio-X), which debuted earlier than YT:

내가 벌써 선배라니

Rozy referring to herself as a senior. Image: Rozy Instagram

In this post, Rozy is thanking YT for a gift of virtual shoes. She jokingly points out "I'm already a senior" i.e. older than YT. 

Sort of cute I guess, but if you think about it, really weird. She's not real. She's not a senior, nor a junior. She's nothing. She's some pixels of programming. That cute comment itself was probably written by some computer science guy or a marketing manager. A weird cosplay between marketing teams. 

By the way, did you happen to catch that Rozy has the blue "verified" checkmark on Instagram? 

Strange times. Just relax and visit Paris Baguette with YT.

AI virtual humans are sexy, but what does that even mean

I'll leave you with another look at YT, this time modeling clothing for H&M.

YT shaking it. Image: YT Instagram

I'll admit it. This looks pretty sexy to me. Does the fact that "she" doesn't actually exist make that kind of comment less of a moral quandary? Or does it make it an even bigger one? Is a virtual influencer basically in the same category as anime waifus? 

Consider this. Unlike a real model, she can't be hurt or pushed to suicide by negative comments from random netizen trolls. Does that mean a potential free for all in the comments sections without fear of legal reprisal for defamation? [See: 5 Times Malicious Netizens Faced Consequences For Their Comments About K-Pop Idols]. Or is that still on the table since these "girls" are wholly owned products of major corporations? Can you be sued for defamation of a virtual human being? Isn't that just the same as tarnishing a corporate brand image? Can YT be bought and sold to other companies? Could a rogue programmer instruct YT to demand compensation at some point? Would the inevitable onslaught of "rule 34" type content be legally punished under copyright infringement? Will we end up with "YT Experience Zone" type augmented VR experiences where you can date her for an hour? 

Paying attention

So many questions here. This really is a "new world" (신세계). I actually fear the day when virtual singers, actors, models become so commonplace as to take opportunities from actual, hardworking Koreans trying to enter this business. 

Of course the flip side is that these virtual humans are created by highly talented and highly skilled Koreans too. And it's not just a Korean issue. Korea is just, as usual, ahead of the game. Which is exactly why I think we ought to pay more attention to these developments here. 

For a bigger and more professional take than just mine, check out this CNN piece by Jessie Yeung and Gawon Bae, with an interesting take on how this could lead to a kind of "digital blackface":

🔗 Forever young, beautiful and scandal-free: The rise of South Korea's virtual influencers - CNN Style

And the Joongang Daily has an introductory piece on both YT and a counterpart, Lucy:

🔗 Lotte and Shinsegae pit their virtual models head-to-head

A lot to think about. When I first started seeing these things appear, they seemed like just a quirky use of tech. But I really think we're seeing the start of something major. So keep an eye on these things.