Influencer marketing has transformed how brands connect with consumers in the last ten years. In categories like fashion and technology, brands work with content creators (influencers) who have authenticity, familiarity, and aspirational-lifestyle photographs in customers’ digital feeds.
But we now have a new type of influencer developing. Rather than a person with a camera, we now have an artificial personality created by designers, programmers, and algorithms. These influencers are not just digitally created; they are constructed personalities limited to the internet space and can attract millions of followers and contracts with Fortune 500 companies worth significant dollars.
One of the first and most recognized characters is Lil Miquela, launched in 2016. She is not too say, her digital appearance is stylized but appears human, led a curated lifestyle, and been featured on campaigns for premium brands, including Prada and Calvin Klein. One most fascinating aspect is that she doesn’t physically exist, but people consume and engage in her posts, comment on stories she’s devised, and sometimes even debate her viewpoints, as if she was a real person. This ambiguous relationship between fiction and reality establishes how powerful digital storytelling is in today’s commercial marketplace.
The advantages of AI influencers for brands are distinct from human creators. They do not age, do not run the risk of being involved in a scandal, and can be engineered to reflect every nuance of a brand. For example, a virtual fitness coach can have an unattainable look, remain evergreen, and promote athletic apparel, all without the unknowns that support human influencer engagement. While humans provide authenticity, AI provides control. The fusion of both is opening a new chapter in marketing strategy.
The Implications for Human Creators
The emergence of AI-created influencers has raised a significant discussion about the forthcoming realities for human creators. For many influencers who have devoted several years to building communities, the notion of a brand preferring a computerized image can be a bit jarring. Human connection has always been the bedrock of the concept of influencer marketing. Audiences are not only following the creator for product recommendations but also to share and learn about the creator’s lived experiences, vulnerabilities, and personal stories as well. Can an algorithm take the place of all of that?
Whether or not a brand chooses to align with an AI influencer still depends on the goal. If the objective is to build a futuristic image for a global fashion house or tech company, then an AI influencer might build an even more polished campaign. But, if the campaign is one that calls for emotional depth or cultural sensitivity, that’s a different story. A virtual personality programmed to say the right things still does not have the lived context that human voices have when advocating for something or discussing cultural issues.
The interesting aspect is that the dynamics between human and AI influencers do not need to operate in oppositional spaces and may even be aligned in some situations. There have been instances of campaigns that include both human and virtual influencers in the same post, generating conversations and engagement among the viewer audience.
This can also be likened to industries such as gaming or entertainment. Just as motion capture and digital avatars did not displace actors, but changed the manner people consume stories, AI influencers may simply add another dimension to creative marketing. From a human influencer perspective, the problem is likely more with oversaturation. If brands are unveiling feeds with perfect, flawless, and safe virtual personalities, audiences are likely to want authentic personalities again, with the pendulum shift back toward a more human persona-centered genre.
Beyond Marketing: A Broader Cultural Shift
The role of AI influencers is not limited to social media and video sharing platforms like Instagram and TikTok but signifies a larger cultural shift in people’s understanding of identity and trust in online spaces. As digital spaces are more immersive, particularly as we lean into virtual reality and the “metaverse”, virtual personalities will increasingly shape consumer lives. An AI influencer for a gaming brand, for instance, could take players through experiences, endorse products in real-time, or engage with participants in a story-led experiences that illustrate the intersection between entertainment and marketing.
The shift in culture is analogous to what we have seen in numerous other industries. In an online casino, players are used to relying on digital experience instead of physical dealers or locations to play. Online casinos have proven how quickly we will take advantage of a virtual experience when it is enjoyable and easy-to-use. Similarly, audiences are starting to accept that the person promoting the sneakers or headphones that they love, may not be a physical person existing outside of pixels and code.
Transparency is what matters most. An audience does not want to feel fooled, and the law may soon require brands to make it clear when they have used artificial intelligence-generated personalities. As long as brands are as transparent as possible when disclosing the digital identity of these influencers, we will have a greater potential for trust. As with most things concerning technology, the threshold for novelty and backlash can be thin, and transparency will help determine whether virtual influencers are simply a gimmick or whether they will gain permanence within advertising.
