Digital humans, highly realistic, interactive, and increasingly autonomous digital representations of people, are rapidly reshaping the landscape of electronic commerce. Digital humans can be a generic person who fits the role (i.e., “straight out of central casting”), a digital twin of a specific person (e.g., the company CEO), or a digital celebrity (e.g., a copy of a famous person). Once confined to entertainment and experimental interfaces, these systems now operate at the intersection of artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, and digital marketing. Their emergence reflects a broader shift in information systems: from transactional interfaces toward relational, embodied, and socially embedded digital experiences.
This special section brings together research that collectively examines how digital humans function as both technological artifacts and social actors. As with prior work on digital platforms and ecosystems, the rise of digital humans highlights the complex interplay among technology, users, and institutional contexts, raising new questions about identity, trust, and the value co-created when we interact with them.