K-Pop has become a world-wide sensation, taking over the music industry. The rise of AI in K-Pop, though, is fairly recent, only starting to gain popularity in the early 2020s. However, the first Korean virtual idol was much older—a singer named Adam who debuted in 1998. His voice was created using the voice of singer and actor, Park Seung Chul, also known as Zero. Adam released two full length albums that sold about 200,000 copies, however the tech back then was not as advanced as today and there were many limitations in what Adam could do. In 2021, ETERN!TY, the first all virtual girl group, debuted with the ironically named single “I’m Real”. They were created by using Deep Real AI, a service that creates virtual character images based on artificial intelligence and synthesizing images or videos. In January of 2023, a group called Mave: debuted with the single album, “Pandora’s Box”. Their vocals and dancing were created by human performers and processed with motion-capture and real-time 3D rendering technologies. Mave: received mixed reactions from the public. The music video for “Pandora” had over 20 million views and many are excited about the rookie group’s debut. However, some are repulsed and skeptical of the fact that they only exist virtually and can’t interact with fans in real life.

AI in the Korean music industry has many pros, but also quite a few cons. On the one hand, AI taking a hold in the industry means fewer aspiring teens won’t suffer harsh training conditions required of Korean idols, nor the intense scrutiny and criticism that follows their every move. However, virtual idols don’t carry the same emotional appeal as human performers, since audiences have a hard time forming a connection with them. Additionally, you still need human vocalists to create AI voices, and human performers to help render 3D motion. AI diminishes the quality and creativity put into creating music and the whole point of working to achieve a dream is crushed by this.

Virtual idols seem to be taking over Korea. Real idols are now facing neglect by companies. For example, a group under SM Entertainment, aespa, hasn’t had a comeback in almost a year because their company is focusing on the debut of Nævis, an AI group. Many companies have been experimenting with AI technologies and are beginning to  realize how much easier and profitable it is to use AI.

How might it look in the future? It’s hard to tell. AI and humans might coexist, although it’s evident that real idols are going to face neglect for some time while companies figure out virtual technology. Since K-Pop is such a huge industry in Korea, it’s probably going to be hard to take humans entirely out of the picture but with the rapidly changing landscape, anything is possible.