A New Influencer Enters the Ring: AI Influencers
AI is rapidly progressing to the point that ‘AI influencers’ now exist. At first glance, they don’t appear to be fictional. But upon even closer inspection and digging into these accounts, these bots don’t seem to be too different from “real” influencers.
One social media user was particularly shocked by a random AI influencer account they found online. The influencer, ‘@santoswalker_’ on Instagram, claims to be a digital nomad from LA. His profile bio reads, “Artificial yet intelligent.”
Anyone who skipped the detail would be taken for a ride.
Santos looks like a successful bodybuilder and model. He even has collabs with other “influencers” like ‘@jaeyoungjoon’ on Instagram. The influencer is depicted to have several relationships with other men, particularly Mateo.
Santos apparently went to The Oscars, even if nobody’s heard of the man before. If social media users failed to detect that Santos is an AI, then many would have been fooled. The guy posts model shoots, post-workout photos, and a ton of thirst traps. He has relationships and collaborations—it all looks a bit closer to reality.
But what’s the point? In this case, it all seems to be fun and games for now. Nobody was particularly heartbroken upon finding out that Santos, Jaeyoung, and his partner, Mateo, are all bots. Which begs the question: what are humans doing?
Have humans exhausted content to the point of AI psychosis? Some of it is all just fun and games, like how some people interact with AI chatbots. But what if there are people who have a stake in the creation of AI influencers?
AI Influencers have debuted in the political arena
It’s also no surprise that non-existent influencers have been attending important events. A military influencer, Jessica Foster, was believed to be a real person who is serving the US Army. She was even photographed beside President Donald Trump on numerous occasions. At the time, she gained more than a million followers on social media, posing as a MAGA dream girl.
But Foster isn’t real, and multiple outlets exposed the grift.
A flood of fake MAGA influencers
The saga is far from over, though, and just a day ago, another influencer was outed as an AI account. Sam, a 22-year-old medical student from India, confessed that he was behind an AI influencer account.
In an interview with Wired, Sam said he asked ChatGPT to engineer a woman that would appeal to the older, conservative MAGA man. The chatbot told him, “The conservative audience often has higher disposable income and is more loyal.”
He submitted Sydney Sweeney’s photo to the AI, making her features the basis for AI influencer Emily Hart. A synthetic grifter was born.
Hart parroted MAGA talking points, mocked liberals, and posted bikini photos of herself.
She had a Fanvue profile, which men subscribed to. Sam, the creator of Hart, cashed in on the MAGA merch sales for Fanvue subscriptions. To Sam, the grift was obvious—but he was nonetheless shocked when Emily Hart “blew up.”
Sam’s intention wasn’t fun. He wanted to find a way to sustain his studies and hoped to emigrate to the United States after he graduated. It’s ironic, but the profile was lucrative. Fake influencers are wacky at best and a money grab for some—but the most concerning point in all of this is that people seem to be struggling to discern AI from reality.
There may be actors who are using AI to push political messaging. They could be used to muddy the discourse, creating artificial support for an establishment stance. It’s already happening, and people are struggling to discern that the ones delivering the message are AI influencers.
Influencers like Santos don’t pose any harm, but it’s best to pause and scrutinize everything that appears on the feed.
(featured images: santoswalker_ on Instagram)
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