Emma is not Germany

When I saw the campaign "You are Germany" in the early 2000s, I was fascinated. The colorful posters, the inspiring slogans, and the feeling of being part of something bigger truly reached me. Back then, it still seemed possible to promote a positive patriotism that should strengthen courage and self-confidence without appearing exclusionary.

Today, two decades later, I can hardly imagine such a campaign would still resonate. As a humanist and a convinced (at least) European, I see the world with different eyes. The political atmosphere in Germany has changed, and the concept of "being German" has become more complex and controversial than ever before.

Emma is born into this changed reality. Emma is Germany's first official AI influencer. As the new brand ambassador of the German National Tourist Board, she represents the "cultural diversity of our country" in a "completely new way." The phrase regarding the "beauty of our country" is to be taken seriously. Agency head Florian Hübner presented Emma on LinkedIn a few days ago. He proudly emphasized it was a privilege to have been involved in the conception and creation of Emma. From his perspective, Emma has the potential to elevate Germany's tourism economy to a new level.

What followed was allegedly the shitstorm of the year. Pain can be so beautiful. I haven't read all the 3,000+ comments myself, but I was one of the nearly 1,000 disputants who expressed their views in writing on LinkedIn. This article emerges after Florian Hübner enthusiastically took the floor because he felt compelled, due to numerous objections, to disclose all details about Emma. With a full-body goosebump experience, naturally. His statement, which has been online for five days, brims with an adapted technological determinism that forces me to offer a culturally informed tutorial.

Emma is not Germany - A critical look at AI tourism

In early 2024, the German National Tourist Board introduced Emma, Germany's first official AI influencer. As a digital brand ambassador, she was developed to represent Germany's cultural diversity and attract tourists. However, this attempt at digital representation raises serious concerns about authenticity and national identity.

While Emma's creators celebrate her as a technological breakthrough in tourism marketing, she embodies a problematic approach to the portrayal of a nation. Despite its extensive data models, the AI avatar reduces Germany's rich complexity to a stereotypical, artificially perfect digital construct.

The criticism of Emma focuses on three main aspects: her clichéd portrayal, a simplified depiction of Germany beyond its famous landmarks, and the fundamental inadequacy of capturing the essence of a nation through AI. Emma does not represent reality but rather a sanitized, algorithmic fantasy of what Germany should be.

In a time when national identity is more complex and contentious than ever, such digital simplifications seem particularly misplaced. True identity lies not in data representations but in the contradictory, chaotic, and deeply human experiences that shape a nation and its people.

Emma may be a campaign, but she is not Germany. She is merely a digital fairy tale, as real as Snow White - she exists only on our screens and marketing materials, far removed from the authentic German experience tourists seek.

Who is Emma really?

Emma is an AI avatar based on extensive data models. Florian Hübner explains how Emma is technically created when you follow the links. My interest lies elsewhere. Emma is supposed to represent the German reality, yet paradoxically she creates a new form of reality. A reality that, despite all the data and algorithms, often lags behind human intuition and experience.

The irony is that although Emma is supposed to represent "Germany," she is not Germany. She is a construct, a digital mirror. A desperate attempt to be like us. What emerges is, to put it politely, a cliché or, for those who prefer the vulgar form, a damp men's dream in the shape of a digital fairy who may play an appealing role in a fairy tale book. Because this campaign is nothing more. An expanded reality that, like Snow White could, can make something appear to be. Snow White is true. She's part of our reality. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. She exists – but only in our storybooks, our imagination, and in the film "7 Dwarfs – Men Alone in the Wood" by the comedian Otto.

In this country, some seek identities and others for belonging. Perhaps Emma is just a contingent nonsense we will forget in a few days if the campaign flops. If I'm wrong, I will acknowledge that I was mistaken with my assessment and got it wrong. Or Emma inadvertently allows us to recognize: true identity does not lie in a representation of our data. Our actions are not only found in our algorithms but in the complex, often contradictory experiences that make us human. We are people because we have a fallible way of contacting the world, to which we consciously respond. This makes us the solution-oriented species to which I do not count Emma. She is a campaign. Nothing more.

Emma is a media trap

The bulk of the criticism, including my own, focuses on three main aspects. The clichéd portrayal of the entire campaign. Emma is so overly "AI-pretty," many of us suspect Germany is presenting itself in a disguised package. We must take into account that Germany is not only made up of landmarks like the Brandenburg Gate or Neuschwanstein Castle. The inadequacy of the data model, which does not do justice to reality and thus appears unsuitable for adequately representing the country's tourist richness, seems naive regarding its praise by its creator.

This digital framing of Germany will not be a success. If the campaign gains attention, it will likely only be because the curious want to verify the aforementioned deficits. Everyone else falls victim to the media trap.

We remember. There was once a campaign "You are Germany," which today no one dares to undertake, and which we no longer need. Emma, at any rate, is not Germany.