SM Entertainment Debuts First Ever Virtual Artist…But Netizens Are Confused

Naevis is a fictional character (or rather, AI system) that exists in aespa‘s storyline. Recently, she made her official debut as SM Entertainment‘s first virtual artist and netizens have mixed thoughts.

The music video of “Done” showcases Naevis dancing in a city at night where she switches back and forth from a virtual to a more realistic version of herself.

Many people were impressed with the realistic scenes of Naevis dancing that appear to be CGI edits over a real person.

• “Wow”
• “Did they make her whole body? I’ve seen cases where the body is human and the face is graphic due to cost issues, but if they made the entire thing, that’s really amazing.”
• “Haha, did an entertainment agency really do this? lol”
• “Oh, wow, now I’m suddenly interested.”
• “Wow.”
• “To me, it looks like her body is human, but the face looks like a mannequin.*” (*fake)

However, that’s where most of the praise ended. Many question the need for a virtual idol when they would rather have the song given to aespa. Additionally, the quality of the song and voice also received criticism.

• “What’s the reason for releasing this?”
• “Hmm… They should’ve just given the song to aespa… no need for this.”
• “The 3D movements feel super natural, but… is it like AI synthesized just the face onto a real person?”
• “Did they pour a ton of money into the video? The voice is so-so.”
• “No, the main problem isn’t even that; the song is just really bad.”
• “I thought it was a duet between Winter and NingNing lol. The voices sound like they’re alternating between the two.”

Watch the music video below.