In 2018, CGI models began appearing everywhere –  in fashion campaigns, Instagram feuds, and even the Dazed100. With almost two million followers, Lil Miquela is arguably the leader of the AIs, and her presence in pop culture has become so prevalent that it’s easy to forget she isn’t real – particularly when she posts long, heartfelt posts about breaking up with her boyfriend.

On Instagram yesterday (March 5), Miquela shared “the inevitable ‘conscious uncoupling’ post”, announcing to her followers that her and her human boyfriend Nick are no longer together. Ignoring the fact that she’s a robot who can’t feel emotions (not sorry), Miquela said she’s “fragile right now”, adding that if anyone “comes for” her ex, they can “catch these hands”. 

She continued: “Falling in love for the first time is FUCKING INTENSE. I probably should have known that, but your girl is new to all this emotional shit, and it turns out I’ve still got a lot to learn. I wasn’t ready for how much I’d ended up NEEDING Nick, how alone I’d end up feeling when we were apart, and how much of myself I’d lose while trying to be ‘perfect’.”

Looking through Miquela’s Instagram, it seems her first post about Nick was in August 2019, when she shared a photo of him with the caption: “My crushes never wanna claim me, it’s fine.” The next glimpse of Nick was in a sponsored post with Samsung in February this year, followed by a gallery of the couple just a day before the break-up post.

Miquela explained that she was “super grateful” for her “first experience with love”, and said that despite her “embarrassing breakdown and break-up that followed”, she felt like she’d had a “breakthrough”. She concluded: “For everyone wondering – Nick and I will continue to co-parent Bobby Hill and Rosalia (our two ferns) and hope to provide them the love and care they need to continue to flourish.”

Miquela has faced criticism in recent months, most recently in December last year after posting a vlog in which she claimed to have been sexually assaulted – something that obviously can’t happen to an AI who lives in a computer. The model’s creators were criticised for using real women’s trauma to make Miquela seem “relatable” and “realistic”. Back in May 2019, Calvin Klein released a 30-second YouTube video that featured Bella Hadid and Miquela kissing. As Dazed wrote at the time, the clip “borrows sexuality for clickbait, othering queerness as ‘surreal’ (and combining it with the added virtual human gimmick) as engagement-driving content.”

Anyway, good luck to Miquela after her break-up.