Milla Sofia looks like your average influencer. She’s 19 years old, blond and has almost 100,000 followers on TikTok. The twist is that she doesn’t actually exist.
Sofia may claim to be from Finland and post bikini pictures from trips to Greece and Bora Bora, but she’s actually a “virtual influencer and fashion model” generated by artificial intelligence.
“Join me on this exhilarating journey as we delve into the captivating fusion of cutting-edge technology and timeless elegance,” reads Sofia’s website. “Let’s embark together on an exploration of the intriguing intersection of fashion, technology, and boundless creativity.”
Sofia isn’t new — her first Instagram post and TikTok upload both date back to November 2022. The content hasn’t changed much, although the realism of the images has improved in recent months.
Whoever runs Sofia’s accounts isn’t trying to hide the fact that she’s an AI creation. There are TikToks of Sofia and Elon Musk, Sofia showing off her “office outfit” wearing a lace bra and a blazer, and even a post where Sofia asks “What are your favorite hashtags for searching images?” The captions remind viewers the photos are “synthetic images.” Eagle-eyed viewers will also spot the telltale sign of AI-generated photos: messed-up fingers.
“I’m always on the grind, learning and evolving through fancy algorithms and data analysis,” Sofia’s website continues. “I’ve got this massive knowledge base programmed into me, keeping me in the loop with the latest fashion trends, industry insights, and all the technological advancements.”
It’s not clear who is running Sofia’s accounts or what AI program created her. It’s also not clear whether some of her thousands of followers fully understand that she’s not real.
Her comment sections on videos and posts are filled with heart-eyes emojis and compliments. Some people seem to genuinely answer her questions — “Blue or pink bikini?” — while some act like they know her personally, posting comments like “Thank you for sending me your beautiful photo to wake up to!!!!”
“It’s a puzzling new turn in the road to AI content,” Futurism reporter Victor Tangermann writes. “While deepfake porn has proliferated online, the allure of influencers is arguably more complex. If we follow human influencers for a parasocial taste of a glamorous lifestyle, why would we follow a bot instead?”
Aside from Sofia’s bikini-clad pictures, she’s otherwise not overtly suggestive in her posts. Some virtual influencers play into this, like Lu Xu, who is described as an “AI model and waifu” and has more exaggerated features.