Created in Just 10 Minutes, Yet Indistinguishable... Is the Era of 'AI Influencers' Here?

"The Future of Branding, Marketing, and Entertainment"
Concerns Over Side Effects...
Some Say AI Cannot Fully Replace Real Influencers

Recently, it was revealed that an influencer who gained hundreds of followers on social networking services (SNS) within just a few days is actually a virtual persona generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

On September 1 (local time), the Financial Times (FT) reported on a college student influencer named Tinsley.

In an eight-second video posted on TikTok, Tinsley was seen crying because she was unable to join her desired school club. Followers left supportive comments such as "Stay strong" and "Don't give up."

However, it was later revealed that Tinsley is a virtual influencer created by Olivia Moore, a partner at Silicon Valley venture capital group a16z. Moore stated, "It takes less than 10 minutes to create an AI influencer account like this," adding, "This could be the future of branding, marketing, and entertainment."

In fact, global conglomerates are actively utilizing AI influencers. Fashion company H&M has featured AI-generated replica models in its advertisements, while Hugo Boss collaborated with Imma, an AI influencer with 500,000 followers. FT estimated that as of 2023, the economic scale of this sector had surpassed $250 billion (approximately 345.75 trillion won).

AI virtual influencer Mia Jelu. Recently, she attracted 150,000 followers with a video of her attending the Wimbledon tennis tournament in the UK, becoming a hot topic. Screenshot from Mia Jelu's Instagram

For brands, there are advantages such as affordable and immediate influencer marketing, as well as the ability to exercise full control over these influencers. Aleksandro Boika, Head of Policy at media production startup Synthesia, commented, "This is an equalizing force that allows even small brands with limited budgets to provide sophisticated and large-scale content."

However, FT reported that traditional influencers and marketing professionals are fearful of being replaced by AI. Gabriella Halikas, a plus-size clothing model and influencer, said, "This is a dangerous situation not only for models but also for creators such as hair and makeup artists, stylists, and photographers."

There are also concerns about various side effects stemming from the emergence of AI influencers. Since it is often difficult to distinguish these AI influencers from real people, the biggest issue is scams in which AI receives advertisements or sponsorships while pretending to be human. Additionally, AI influencers could set unrealistic beauty standards. Halikas pointed out, "AI is literally not reality. This is a serious concern for young people and women."

Some have also raised concerns that with major tech companies like Meta and TikTok introducing AI creation features, there will be an overflow of low-quality AI content, a phenomenon referred to as "AI slop." The term "slop," which originally means food waste, is used to describe the mass production of low-quality content by AI.

However, there are counterarguments that AI cannot fully replace human influencers. According to market research firm Twixxi, engagement rates for sponsored posts by real influencers were 2.7 times higher than those of AI influencers. Furthermore, the average revenue per post for human influencers was $78,777 (about 109.56 million won), far surpassing the $1,694 (about 2.36 million won) earned by AI influencers.