In the Korean music industry, a new sub-genre of K-pop groups has risen: artificial intelligence. Although this has become popular, there have been a few misconceptions about what is truly AI and what is not. While some artists are fully artificial intelligence, some are only virtual and still human-made.

Apoki
The AI genre of K-pop started with Korea’s first virtual artist, Apoki. Before her debut, she started a YouTube channel back in 2019 where she still continues to post both vocal and dance covers. She later debuted on Feb. 22, 2021, with her song “GET IT OUT” under VV Entertainment, according to kprofiles.com.

The different groups below have completely different types of concepts. For example, Apoki’s concept is based on a rabbit-like-being living in space. While her music videos follow along with this concept with the usage of real-world elements and brands. Most of the groups’ music videos also follow along their concepts with the use of their music videos, according to apoki.ai.

K/DA
On Nov. 3, 2017, virtual K-pop girl group, K/DA debuted through the company Riot Games—the same company behind the game League of Legends—with their single “Pop/Stars.” The group is based on the game and consists of the characters Ahri, Akali, Evelynn and Kai’Sa. While these characters are completely virtual, there are voice actors behind the screen. Evelynn is voiced by pop-singer Madison Beer, Kai’Sa is pop-singer Jaira Burns, Ahri is sung by (G)I-dle’s Miyeon and Akali by (G)I-dle’s Soyeon. Riot Games formed the group to promote League of Legends and sell in-game skins of the characters in the music video. The group was revealed with a performance of their single during the 2018 League of Legends World Championship, according to kda-lol.fandom.com.

Riot Games had supposedly been wanting to make a music group based on the musicians “Gorillaz.” The group would be a band of characters from Riot Games and include other artists pulled together by the company. They had noticed an overlap with League of Legends, esports and the music industry, making the decision to make the most involved music project they had ever done. Riot Games has previously done musical projects, but these were all based on computer-generated imagery, according to kda-lol.fandom.com.

SUPERKIND
SUPERKIND is a combination of AI and human group, having five human members and two virtual. They were formerly known as the “YOURS” project. The boy group debuted on June 20, 2020, under Deep Studio Entertainment with their first digital single “Watch Out,” and having only five of the now seven members: Daemon, Eugene, Geon, SiO and SAEJiN, who is AI. They later rebranded, some of the trainees left the company and the “YOURS” project ended, and debuted again with two more members: JDV and Seung, who is also AI. This group did eventually disband on April 11, according to kprofiles.com.

SUPERKIND’s concept is based on an anagram of the words NUKE, PRID and S, spelling out SUPERKIND. While the real people in the group are labelled as PRID and the AIs, NUKEs, the meaning of the S is still unknown. The two rivalling groups will end up working together to try and discover what the S stands for. Another thing is that the fans are called “players,” in which the fans get to help develop the concept and how the storyline builds. These interactions occur on a Discord server where the members are a part of, according to kpop.fandom.com.

Æspa
Aespa- stylized as æspa- debuted on Nov. 17, 2020, under SM Entertainment with the single “Black Mamba.” The girl group consists of the members Karina, Giselle, Winter, NingNing and Naevis, who is AI, according to kprofiles.com.

Naevis is the AI member and system that is designed to help the AI characters appear in the real world, which allows them to be seen by the aespa members. She debuted with her single “Done” and was revealed when she appeared in the “MY, KARINA” teaser video for the group. She was also featured in the “Black Mamba” promotional pictures of the members. In episode three of the SM Culture Universe, Naevis appears and helps aespa defeat the black mamba in the world KWANGYA- a world where people and AI can only go to using portals that Naevis can make, even though she was told not to. She made her music video debut in the aespa music video “Welcome to MY World” as a featuring artist, according to aespa.fandom.com.

The girls’ concept is based on the idea of people living in both the real world and a virtual one. Their concept explores the relation between people and their AI characters in the metaverse. These characters are created from the person’s data and are called æs. They live in a virtual world called the “FLAT,” and the æs coexist with humans in the real world. The group faces the Black Mamba, the villain who wants to disconnect the real world from the FLAT. Aespa is trying to fight to take down their villain, according to nylon.com.

IITERNITI
IITERNITI, formerly known as Eternity, debuted on March 22, 2021, with their single “I’m Real.” The 11-member AI girl group consists of members Seoa, Sujin, Minji, Jaein, Hyejin, Chorong, Jiwoo. Yeoreum, Sarang and Yejin, according to kprofiles.com.

In early 2021, the members’ faces were chosen through a program called the “A.IDOL CHALLENGE.” The program put hundreds of synthesized idol faces into a vote and let fans decide which would be put into the girl group, according to eternity-kpop.fandom.com.

MAVE:
On Jan. 25, 2023, Metaverse Entertainment founded AI girl group MAVE:. The members consist of MARTY:, TYRA:, ZENA: and SIU:, debuting with their single album “PANDORA’S BOX.” The group was formed using AI-generated members from a group photo and solo concept cards, according to nme.com.

MAVE:’s lore is focused on the members crashing down on Earth in their search for human emotions. Metaverse Entertainment also has hinted that the colons in the members’ names and the group name are related to their concept, according to nme.com.

PLAVE
PLAVE is a virtual, not AI, K-pop boy group under VLAST entertainment. The five members in this group are Yejun, Noah, Bamby, Eunho and Hamin. The boys made their debut on March 12, 2023, with their single album “Asterum.” The members’ personas were created with CG visuals based on manhwa styled characters, often seen in things like webtoons. All members are songwriters and help compose their songs, along with choreographing them, according to kpop.fandom.com.

PLAVE’s name is a combination of the words “play” and “Rêve,” meaning they are trying to create a new world to achieve their dreams. While most consider this group AI, they are actually similar to V-Tubers, having body tracking equipment and using their own voices, only changing their appearance, according to kprofiles.com.

AEONIT
AEONIT is a five member boy group that is similar to PLAVE. The group debuted under ONMIND entertainment with their first single album “LUMOS” on Aug. 28, 2024. Their members consist of Chanyu, Saebyeok, Yuan, Reon and Wooju, according to kprofiles.com.

The group’s concept comes from their name. The name combines the words “Aeonian” and “Emit.” Their concept is that the members are wizards who will eventually unite and achieve their dream of becoming singers, according to soompi.com.