Why AirAsia's Former 'Face Model' Lost Job: "Can't Trust Virtual Humans"

AirAsia Deletes Posts of Virtual Human 'Miss Ava'
1 in 2 People "Unaware of Virtual Human Marketing"

AirAsia's virtual human model 'Miss Ava'. Photo by Instagram capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] AirAsia, a leading low-cost airline representing Malaysia, recently deleted all Instagram posts related to its virtual human model 'Miss Ava.'

As of the 17th, there are no posts related to Ava on AirAsia's official Instagram. An AirAsia spokesperson explained, "Miss Ava will return as a virtual assistant, focusing on developing the ability to provide customers with more effective and efficient service."

Ava first appeared in 2019 as an AI chatbot, posting travel-related content on Instagram and other platforms. Later, in March 2020, AirAsia introduced Miss Ava as a promotional model, describing her as "ideal for promotion because she has no race, religion, or nationality."

AirAsia also plans to retire 'Aozora Kurumi,' the next-generation virtual idol introduced in May. The 'Project Kavvaii,' which debuted Kurumi, announced via its official Twitter on the 4th that Kurumi's live streaming and social media activities will be suspended starting August 7.

Industry insiders cite 'lack of credibility' as the reason companies are halting promotional activities using virtual humans. According to data released last December by Milieu, a consumer research and data analysis firm, 31% of respondents said they "cannot trust virtual influencers more than humans."

A survey also revealed that one in two people are unaware of virtual human marketing. Research firm Media Real Research Korea conducted a survey from January 6 to 13 targeting 5,038 adult men and women in South Korea. The results showed that 50.36% of respondents answered that they "do not know" about virtual human marketing conducted by some companies. In this survey, respondents cited "accelerated competition with real singers and job reduction" (30.57%) as the biggest concern regarding the debut of virtual singers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.