Communication and cyberesthetics

the emergence of avatars in media and culture

Abstract

This article proposes a critical reflection on the processes of intermediation and the generation of meanings, with a focus on digital devices and artificial intelligence. It problematizes processes of mass communication, culture, and media, questioning the effects of meaning in society that result from such an articulation between cyberspace and consumption. The proposed object of study is delineated from the Japanese virtual vocaloid Hatsune Miku, extending to other digital devices, such as deep reals, that is, journalist avatars articulated with artificial intelligence. Speculatively, by bringing together philosophy, aesthetics, and communication, the article proposes a critical reflection on these new media artifacts and arrives at the notion that these devices corroborate the implementation of a new phase of contemporary capitalistic processes, where the absence of physical weight of these new entities tends to generate more diffuse forms between entertainment, control, and mass alienation.