Qatar Airways presents Sama, a human-digital stewardess who aspires to be the brand’s influencer

Jane Anderson
Jane Anderson
Una azafata vestida con el uniforme de Qatar Airways posando con la mano junto a la mejilla

Qatar Airways has introduced Sama, a cabin crew member whom the airline defines as “digital human powered by AI” and that he is already beginning to accumulate followers through his Instagram account. And the objective of the brand with this commitment to influencer marketing is for Sama to inspire and connect with a global audience through @SamaOnTheMove, which will offer followers a mix of travel tips, personal stories from their stopovers and an insight into what the life of a cabin crew member is like.

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A post shared by Sama (@samaonthemove)

Babar Rahman, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communication at Qatar Airways, said in a statement that “Sama is not just a digital persona, he is a reflection of how we see the future of travel: personal, engaging and deeply connected to the experiences that matter. His arrival is a step forward in the way we humanize our brand and create moments that resonate with our global audience.”

Thus, Qatar Airways’ intention is for Sama to showcase the company’s network of more than 170 destinations in a way “fresh and imaginative”. Your content will somehow invite followers to explore new culturesdiscover inspiring traditions and see the world through their eyes.

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A post shared by Sama (@samaonthemove)

The launch of Sama by Qatar Airways is one more example of how the trend of putting a virtual face, created with artificial intelligence, on a human body in an image or video is already common among companies that decide to bet on virtual humans as a communication strategy.
The issue lies in the narrative that some companies are giving to this strategy which, in simplistic terms, consists of applying a filter to a human’s face. But some companies are avoiding stating that AI of this type does not spontaneously perform real-time interactions.

These are, therefore, photographic editing or post-production works in the case of video content. In them, the AI ​​simply simulates the diction of a script established in advance and provided to the tool by a human team.

This is also how Sama works, which was first presented at the ITB show in Berlin last year and which Qatar Airways claims is the first digital human stewardess that debuts on social networks.