Will AI-powered groups take over K-pop?

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

In March, girl group Eternity made its debut with the song, "I'm Real." Just like other K-pop acts, it also unveiled an eye-catching music video and short interview clips featuring each member. The 11-piece group looks no different from other girl groups ― except that the members are not real human beings. They are, indeed, hyper-realistic virtual characters created through state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI).

It was AI graphic company Pulse 9 that brought life to the members. The company's CEO Park Ji-eun launched Eternity out of the belief that AI members could become game changers with their unique edges, during this era when Korean cultural content is enjoying its heyday.

"Unlike human singers, AI members can freely express themselves and weigh in on diverse social issues because they are less vulnerable to malicious comments and criticisms," Park said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. "As a creator, I can also add more fantastical and compelling elements to them, making them more distinguishable from existing K-pop acts."

Eternity has its own "universe," crafted by Park and her co-workers. In this universe, the members are aliens from a distant planet called, "Aian," who were dispatched to the earth to interact with people and find out solutions to save their threatened planet.

Last year, Pulse 9 showcased the faces of 101 girls online and asked internet users to vote for their favorite one, who will join Eternity. The event ― which is reminiscent of Mnet's popular audition program, "Produce 101," where the viewers chose 11 members out of 101 contenders to create a new K-pop band ― quickly went viral with numerous people participated in the voting.

"We used our DEEP REAL AI technology to make 101 different faces," Park explained. "The technology enables us to create picture-like images of human beings and various objects through AI. Its strength lies in the details; through this technology, we can make a wide range of faces with different facial expressions and features."

Pulse 9's new attempt seems to have captured the attention of the public. The music video of "I'm Real" has racked up 570,000 hits on YouTube as of Monday, while the interview clips featuring the members all exceeded 100,000 views.

"That looks so real for a couple of minutes for me," an online user commented on member Seo-a's interview video. "I cannot wait to see more of this cool project."

But the fact that the AI members cannot meet their fans in reality might be a huge stumbling block for them, given that active communication is often the key to the success of K-pop stars. Concerning this problem, Park said that she has been musing about a number of ways to connect the AI members with their followers.

"We are planning to make use of diverse technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and holograms to help Eternity build rapport with its fans," she said.


The merits of AI-powered groups

The emergence of Eternity is just one case showing AI's growing presence in the K-pop scene. There are more groups like aespa that seek to gain an upper hand in the market by utilizing this cutting-edge technology to enrich fans' experience.

Last November, SM Entertainment, the K-pop powerhouse representing legions of big-name stars like EXO and NCT showcased the new girl group aespa, which debuted with the unprecedented concept of including virtual avatars. The rookie band comprises four human members ― Karina, Winter, Giselle and Ningning ― and their avatars, the quartet's digital selves that were created through AI. During an online press conference in May, Karina said that aespa was an "eight-piece band," referring the digital entities as actual members of aespa.

"Aespa is an innovative group transcending the boundary between reality and virtual reality," SM's founder/producer Lee Soo-man said during the World Cultural Industry Forum (WCIF) in October, about a month before the launch of aespa. "The band is reflective of our future, which will revolve around celebrities and avatars. Aespa's human members and their virtual avatars will interact with each other through digital means, collaborate and grow up together."

Aespa has been making waves on the global music scene. The music video of its debut track, "Black Mamba," surpassed 100 million views on YouTube only 51 days after its release, becoming the first debut music video by a K-pop act to pull off this feat. It also took home several Rookie of the Year Awards last year.

Prior to aespa, there were other AI-powered acts like K/DA, a virtual girl group consisting of four female characters from the popular online game League of Legends (LoL), which debuted with the single "Pop/Stars" in 2018. As of Monday, the music video for the song garnered a whopping 440 million views on YouTube. Apoki, which was initially a virtual influencer, kicked off its singing career in February, putting out its first single "Get it out." Its music video has passed the 610,000 views mark.

But why are people immersing themselves in producing AI-powered singers? The reasons are simple. AI singers enjoy eternal youth, but are free from scandals and are able to work around the clock. For the producers, they are not only efficient, but also less risky.

"Without physical and emotional constraints, virtual singers are easier to control and are more widely available to fans who want to engage with their favorite idols in many different forms," Lee Hye-jin, a clinical assistant professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism of the University of Southern California, told The Korea Times.

She elaborated, "The K-pop industry has invested a lot in new technologies for the last couple of years. Labels like JYP, YG, and HYBE have invested in the avatar app company, Zepeto, and have used the platform for virtual fan meetings or other forms of content. SM has also invested in virtual technology and successfully integrated it into Beyond Live, an online concert streaming service. Likewise, virtual singers will enable K-pop companies to create a new revenue stream and expand their intellectual property."

Kang Shin-kyu, a researcher at Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation (KOBACO), picked the advancement of technology as a contributing factor to the popularity of virtual stars.

"Technology today can offer a more realistic digital environment and more quality digital content for people," he said. "Against this backdrop, more people, especially millennials and generation Z ― defined by some scholars as people born between 1980 and 2010 ― have been attracted to these AI-powered acts. The COVID-19 pandemic is also playing a big role, as a growing number of people are looking for a more entertaining digital experience. Hence, it seems that the number of virtual stars is likely to increase at least for a while."

But Professor Lee underscored that virtual stars will only be used to complement human idols rather than replacing them, as they cannot form emotional bonds with their fans.

"Even though AI idols are given unique personalities, those personalities are artificially manufactured and contrived, based on what their creators think the audience's tastes are," she said. "How can fans like or foster a meaningful relationship with entities that do not actually exist?"


Ethical, copyright issues should not be overlooked

AI-powered groups have offered a new direction, but at the same time, pose significant challenges.

Numerous people are anxious that virtual singers can fall prey to deepfake porn, digitally altered pornographic videos and images that replace the face of the subjects with someone else's. Several celebrities have turned out to be the victims of this technology, and some believe that virtual avatars are more likely to image exploitation, given that they are not human. Although their creators say they will take stringent legal action against any law breakers, the worries are still mounting.

"The detachment of these characters from real people might encourage and justify some users to sexualize them further and use their images for pornographic purposes, without thinking of the consequences," Lee pointed out.

Kang elaborated, "In the case of aespa, the human members share the same identities as their virtual avatars, so if their digital selves fall victim to digital sex crimes ― as can be seen from the case of K/DA ― the human members are also likely to be affected."

Hypersexualization is another big issue, experts say.

"Currently, we are witnessing the imposition of stricter gender norms on female AI-powered idols. The avatar members of aespa, for instance, are more sexually stylized than their human counterparts," Lee said.

Kang echoed this sentiment, saying, "The virtual avatars reflect the particular physical features that the industry values."

He also touched on copyright issues concerning aespa, asking a series of thought-provoking questions.

"How will SM Entertainment deal with these avatars once the human members terminate their contract with the company? Do they still own the digital entities even if the human members do not want them to be used in the future? This is why I think the producers need to be more considerate about the human members and their futures."






"How will SM Entertainment deal with these avatars once the human members terminate their contract with the company? Do they still own the digital entities even if the human members do not want them to be used in the future?"


source: AiA-fab & The Korea Times

Comments

[madrigalpals.livejournal.com]

What sort of demonic nonsense is this????

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

If you haven't seen the mv before, then i am sorry for bringing it into your life. Please don't hate me

[carmine-pink.livejournal.com]

Pandas!!!

[carmine-pink.livejournal.com]

Pulse 9's new attempt seems to have captured the attention of the public. The music video of "I'm Real" has racked up 570,000 hits

In this day and age where Kpop fans aim for views in the millions within 24 hours, 500K since March makes it seem like they're just another nugu group.

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

I mentioned this in the debut post or a teaser post but the concerns brought up here are why all the girls of over 18. I'm pretty certain this concept is why so many trainees left. I would have pulled my daughter out of there as soon as the idea of it was mentioned.

SME 100% owns all of the digital property regarding Aespa and when the girls want to leave the digital versions will likely live on and provide them with some kind of continued income stream if fans don't fully boycott. Under utilizing the digitals...I don't think SME is doing it to protect the members but them protecting their IP from being pornified right out the gate since they're selling Aespa to young girls, though it's prob already too late for that.

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

here's another AI idol, I think it's a brand tie in but I might be wrong

edit: lmao i just clicked play on the post MV. nightmare fuel it shouldn't exist.

[volume1995.livejournal.com]

i love this song!! i think this one works since apoki has been releasing covers on youtube for a while now and she has an excellent voice. it just kinda reminds me of daft punk / sia, the singer just hides behind something. i hope apoki releases more songs like get it out in the future!!!

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

This is why the AI concept for aespa bothers me so much. They don't really need it, either.

[frequency.livejournal.com]

i saw that MV in my youtube recs when it was first uploaded. creepy as fuck. i knew it was AI because all of their eyes are completely lifeless. 💀

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

I saw this MV!!!! It's super creepy, there's something just... wrong about their faces. I think it's because they went for as realistic as they could, instead of the cartoon aesthetics of Aespa's avatars or K/DA (which can still be disturbing but for other reasons).

Will SM prove me wrong? Probably. But I'm not expecting them to debut a 100% avatar group yet, as Aespa proves. They didn't even make Aespa's avatar realistic. It's another marketing strategy, to make noise about the group, to add a whole new bunch of goodies to sell, to keep the Aespa brand alive even if the members leave the company/industry (as the avatars counterparts will remain SM's property forever).

About Aespa's avatars themselves, I'm really disturbed. The surface criticism would be "lol they couldn't even make them look like the Aespa members". But thinking more about it, I'm actually glad they look nothing alike. Because the Aespa members will be compared to their virtual avatars no matter what. And these avatars have unrealistic body types and are a lot more sexualized... which isn't good already. So thank god they didn't add a face likeliness. I'm really worried about how it will impact the members' health, as they're already in an unhealthy industry to begin with.

I think there's also something to be said that despite NCT's whole neo-technology comments (which really took it up a notch from EXO's superheroes storyline) and bazillion members/sub-units, SM's first group with avatars is a GIRL group. Because girls can apparently be "replaced" or "completed" with virtual avatars, modeled from the company and saying exactly what the company wants. It's really dishumanizing.

Another thought before I stop writing this already too long comment, but the virtual avatars and deep fake technologies absolutely terrify me. Once the technologies are good enough, how are we going to be able to tell right from wrong? We're already struggling because of online medias acting like a catalyst to ignorance and compiracies...

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

I also think SM made them sexier an dmore mature looking to get different type of contract they couldn't give to the girls+ if they get a member change they can always keep teh avatar and call it a resurection, or soul transfer

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

Oh it's definitively a marketing ploy to get more people invested in the group — people different than the usual fans of a kpop girl group. My bet would be that they're aiming at young adult male gamers, the kind who already play with sexualized female characters in their games, and that we will see in the future merch especially cattered to them (that the real Aespa members wouldn't otherwise do). I don't know if the gamers care about Aespa lol but SM seems to care about them. Gamers can whale insane amounts of money so I can see how a kpop company like SM is interested.

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

I think I posted this, I don't remember
This is what nightmare are made of tbh, the CGI isn't even that good

and tbf I wouldn't say AI idol are "taking" over. Companies are trying to force them down our throat, but I'm not sure it's working. K/DA relies heavily on lol, they didn't pop out of nowhere, they exist in an environement.
Japan has bene doing this for a while (but I think it's very much a cultural thing)

[rennehollic.livejournal.com]

What in the fresh hell is this... I'll never complain about aespas concept again, after seeing what hell looks like

[chiives.livejournal.com]

aside from the visuals being very unsettling, has no one mentioned how metallic/artificial their voices are? it sounds like i'm listening to an online text reader yelling through a huge drum, vocaloids can have that tendency occasionally but never this severe.

[radowan.livejournal.com]

next: hybe debuts siri with the debut song "I'm not sure I understand."

[premonitioner.livejournal.com]

has hatsune miku killed off all Japanese idols??no. AI will not take over kpop, it'll just be another niche.

AI idols ain't for me because I don't like my idols perfect. My faves are almost always the least popular members in an idol group because they're considered the 'ugly' ones but then they gotta make up for it with their charisma and THAT'S what I like about idols. Don't give me this boring ass perfect computer generated nonsense.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

I agree, the first thing I thought of is how Japan has been doing stuff similar to this for years now so I’m not particularly phased by it. You’re right, it’s more niche than anything. The main difference is these aim for more realism than anime influenced Hatsune Miku so how it goes from here will be interesting.

-edit- Didn’t watch video till now, they clearly are not anywhere close to getting realistic AI this is so uncanny valley it hurts lol

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

Creepy. Just yesterday I learned about AI Influencers and thought that it couldn't get worse.

[radowan.livejournal.com]

lmao at this face swap app realness

the only ppl into this are the ppl who would boink sophia the robot 100%. trust me im a skientist i know how this works.

[queenmedea.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't need to ever watch that.

The visuals are so creepy. They should have gone for something more cartoon-like because technology is clearly not where this company thinks it is.

Also, if you're doing an AI girl group the least you could do is get competent, capable, vocalists, ffs. On top of wondering what the hell I just watched, I'm also wondering if I've done damage to my hearing.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

IA besides the creepy visuals the first thing I noticed is how awful the song sounds. Even your worst kpop girl group sounds better than this

[nefertitii.livejournal.com]

the fact that they can perfectly replicate a standard kpop mv is telling. even the lifeless eyes.

honestly the kpop formula kinda freaks me out

[myrrhcat.livejournal.com]

honestly, i don't think sexualization is a concern when it comes to "ai" idols (really they're just cgi animations, i have yet to see any actual artificial intelligence at play.) that is, it's not a concern any more than it is with any real idol. sexualizing women and girls against their will is a deeply rooted problem in the kpop industry. it's not going to get any better without a major upheaval.

[volume1995.livejournal.com]

they tried integrating the korean vocaloid into kpop but iirc it kinda flopped (except for this song, it slaps) so its not surprising that the entertainment industry is trying it again, just a little step bigger. i just wish they would've gotten real vocalists for this song and made the AI models emote a little more, the eyes are a dead give away that this was done poorly

[lydzi.livejournal.com]

We can't fight what's to come (and it will come) but people really need to see what's at stake here.

The song is also awful.

[xoxkenzxox.livejournal.com]

It's freaky because the bodies are still regular girls. It's just like the faces pasted on top and it's not natural. It makes me think that the girls aren't....idol pretty....and this is what they did to debut them. Not into it.

AI in general is weird. Why base it on real females? Just do like anime and such and make completely virtual characters that have voice actors.