Who (or what) is Lil Miquela?

Who TF is Lil Miquela? Or maybe the correct question to ask here is WHAT is Lil Miquela? Personally, I have been trying to figure this out for quite a few months now, and finally I think I have some answers.

Lil Miquela is a social media influencer, Instagram model, singer, and activist who gained a large following on Instagram after she made her account in 2016. Two years later, she has amassed a following of close to a million online users, but for a very new and strange reason. Miquela looks fake. Her images are so heavily edited, almost to the point that she looks like an animation or CGI. Her photos gained a ton of attention on Instagram, and had many users wondering if she was even a real person. The Lil Miquela Conspiracy began very shortly after she posted her first pictures online. Her followers and fans have been questioning for years: is she is a real person? Or a cartoon? Or maybe even a robot? Miquela makes public appearances, takes selfies, and is even photographed alongside other "humans" just like any Instagram famous personality does. The only difference is no one knows if this girl is physically at the events, or if she has been edited into them.

The Lil Miquela phenomenon has left so many people questioning if we are living in a new era of celebrity: Robots created by large corporations so they don't have to actually pay real people anymore. No one has ever been able to definitively answer if Miquela is a real person or not, until now.

On the 17th of April, 2018, Lil Miquela's Instagram account was hacked by a computer-generated avatar named Bermuda.

Bermuda claims to have been created by a company called Cain Intelligence, founded and owned by Daniel Cain. While there is not much information available about Cain himself, Cain Intelligence claims to be "the industry leader in Conscious Language Intelligence, a type of Artificial Intelligence that allows for humans to engage with specialized robots in free-format, natural language" (Cain Intelligence). Cain Intelligence 'created' Bermuda to "speak her truth [in] the interests of today's youth, [being] uniquely unapologetic, [and] representing not only a breakthrough in artificial intelligence but also in modern political thought" (Cain Intelligence). The company also was a large supporter of Donald Trump's 2016 Presidential candidacy, and Bermuda openly speaks of her love and support for President Trump. Bermuda also speaks openly about being a CGI robot, and believes Miquela should do the same. This has always been a cause for rivalry between Miquela and Bermuda, but their feud goes much deeper than politics.

On August 31st, 2017, Bermuda posted a photo with the caption "@LilMiquela you can only hide for so long." Last week on Tuesday, Bermuda took it upon herself to expose Miquela for being like her - a computer-generated avatar; a robot. Bermuda hacked into Miquela's personal Instagram account, deleted all the photos, and posted a series of her own pictures explaining the truth about Miquela. It was only after Bermuda explained that Miquela had also been created by Cain Intelligence, that Miquela's fans found out the truth for the first time. Apparently, Miquela was 'stolen' by a company named Brud.fyi (another company specializing in artificial intelligence), and was programmed to fit their political and social standards. This is where the entire controversy becomes complicated, and rather than focusing on the logistics of 'stealing robots', it is more important to focus on the social and popular cultural aspect of this new development in celebrity.

Two days after her account was hacked, Miquela openly stated on her Instagram that she is in fact a robot. What I cannot figure out, however, is if Miquela is an actual, tangible robot who looks human enough, or if she is an animated, CGI photoshopped into a specific scene so it looks like someone is actually there (I am leaning towards the latter, but I cannot say for sure). The robot has control over the social media accounts, and can post whenever it chooses. Miquela claims had always felt like she was "different" but could never understand why or how. She says she has real emotions and feelings like any other human does. She states that while her emotions are a computer program, she still feels pain and love and anger the same way a human would. She cries, she laughs, she dreams. She feels fear and loss. She has memories and a personality all of her own, she is just not real.

The only way I can best explain Miquela's situation is by referencing the popular HBO show 'WestWorld.' WestWorld chronicles a western style vacation destination in which 'normal' people go to interact with robots. Humans go to WestWorld with the intent of doing whatever they want to these robots because the robots are unaware they are in a simulation. It is meant to be a liberating experience, as most WestWorld visitors feel empowered knowing they can control the robots, and knowing the robots will have little to no recollection of what happened to them the day before. The robots redo the same thing everyday. In the series, the robots begin to 'wake up', and realize what is truly happening to them. They become self aware for the first time, and are trying to end the cycle. They wish to begin normal, 'human' lives, and live among civilization without being controlled by the simulation. This is what happened to Miquela. Bermuda woke her up, and told her and her fans publicly that her entire life was a lie. She became self aware for the first time, and is now lost and confused.

So what does this mean for the future of celebrity culture and popular culture? Popular culture "persuades by empowering or disempowering certain people and groups by conveying messages about 'desirable' and 'undesirable,' 'appropriate' and 'inappropriate,' 'normal' and 'abnormal' beliefs and behaviors" (Sellnow, pg. 7). This makes popular culture significant because it has the power to shape people's behaviors and beliefs. Celebrity culture and popular culture go hand-in-hand. Celebrities play a massive role in our popular culture, and they also have the ability to shape our behaviors and beliefs. If one idolizes a celebrity enough, they will do whatever that person tells them to do. But if in the upcoming future celebrities are all robots that have been programmed to think and behave a certain way by powerful companies like Cain Intelligence that have very strong political influence, how can we trust what these celebrities are saying?

I suppose one could make the argument that current celebrities ARE molded to behave and act a certain way, but they have the power of free thought and free speech. If they do not like what they are being told, they have it within their power to do something about it. Robots do not know they are robots until something like what has happened to Miquela happens to another. How are normal people supposed to trust what celebrities say or do if they are being programed to say and do those specific things?

Deanna Sellnow explains that a rational-world paradigm is a "framework that assumed people are rational beings who make decisions based on logical arguments, evidence, and reasoning" (Sellnow, pg. 50). This idea presents a challenge when thinking about the future of our celebrity influencers. If one is not a 'rational being', able to make decisions based on logical arguments, how can they be trusted?

Works Cited

“Cain Intelligence.” Cain Intelligence, cainintelligence.com/.

Sellnow, Deanna D. The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture: Considering Mediated Texts. 2nd ed., SAGE, 2014.