When ChatGPT first hit the scene in 2022, it was an instant hit that attracted over one million users in the first five days. Users were excited to share exactly what ChatGPT could do, from writing code to planning travel itineraries. Today, over 300 million people use the generative AI tool each week.
Each day, generative AI tools like ChatGPT get better at answering queries and they get even more powerful for specific use cases. It is so popular that over 2 million developers are building on the company’s API (including us!).
When it comes to direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, leveraging cutting-edge technology to simplify business processes may be necessary to stay competitive. Some studies show that almost half of all businesses have adopted some kind of AI tool to help streamline repetitive tasks.
AI is often used for advertising and automated content creation for busy businesses trying to reach more customers. And now, there are even AI influencers that are available to promote products. In this article, we’ll explore the concept of AI influencers, how they got started, and how DTC brands can benefit (or face challenges) when utilizing them.
An AI influencer is a computer-generated character that looks like a real person, and may even have a full backstory to make them more interesting for their human audience. Many popular AI influencers have partnered with big brands to promote products, and some data suggests that they can drive up to 3% more engagement on platforms like Instagram.
With a character that can be designed to look like anyone and programmed to say or do anything you may like, it can be an intriguing option for brands hoping to target a specific demographic using the “perfect” spokesperson for their brand. Who might be better than a personality you can entirely craft yourself?
If you’re not ready to create your own AI influencer, there are plenty of popular AI personalities who are already accepting brand deals that you could employ.
Every AI tool presents an opportunity, and whether it fits your brand or not depends on several factors. Here are a few benefits of using AI influencers in your marketing:
Although there are benefits to AI influencers for marketing, there are also some cons:
Yes, many AI influencers are already very popular, some have more followers than real people! Here are some of the most popular AI influencers currently taking up space on the internet:
As the most followed AI-generated influencer on Instagram (7.6M) and Facebook (14M) Lu do Magalu was initially designed in 2003 to be a virtual personal assistant for Magazine Luiza.
Lu do Magalu has since partnered with big brands like Burger King, Red Bull, Samsung, McDonald’s, and many more. When she does unboxing videos on the platform, she engages directly with viewers in the comments to boost engagement. She was also the first virtual personality to grace the cover of Vogue Brasil.
A self-described “21-year-old robot living in LA”, Miquela Sousa is a fictional Brazilian-American girl who was created in 2016 by Brud, a studio that creates digital characters for storytelling.
With over 2.4 million followers, Miquela is considered one of the most popular AI influencers, and has partnered with brands like Calvin Klein, Prada, and Samsung for social media campaigns. These and other campaigns earn her $10 million per year (and she’s not even a real person!).
Shudu is billed as the “world’s first digital supermodel", and she has over 237k followers on Instagram. Shudu was created in 2017 by British fashion photographer Cameron-James Wilson, using a program called Daz 3-D.
Much like Miquela, Shudu blurs the line between digital and reality, so much so that when Fenty reposted one of her images featuring their “Saw-C” shade of lipstick, many wondered if they knew she wasn’t real. Since then, her profile is clearly labeled as a digital model, but it validates concerns about whether content is real or not.
Some brands are going all-in with AI tools, and it appears to be paying off. Shapermint created an AI agent that can generate scripts and storyboards for TikTok and Instagram reels that they can then distribute to influencers using this tool for nine months, they have cut the production time on influencer creative by about 70%. According to Shapermint’s CMO, their proprietary AI advertising tool, Altair, has streamlined content production to fuel over $300 million in revenue in 2024.
Toys“R”Us® created the first-ever brand film using Sora, OpenAI’s text-to-video tool. In the film, the company’s founder, Charles Lazarus, is visited by Geoffrey the Giraffe in a dream.
PUMA introduced Laila, its first-ever virtual ambassador that is powered by AI. Laila Khadraa is a 21-year old marketing student who loves football, running, and surfing. She’s got a passion for PUMA sneakers, and her creators (LOOP) are playing with the fact that she exists in between worlds, and has her being upfront about not being real. By developing her story into a journey followers can engage with, they’re also creating brand content for PUMA at the same time.
Laila comes with a tagline: “powered by AI, inspired by humanity.” Is this the future of storytelling for brands? Or storytelling in general?
One of the biggest concerns around using AI influencers is losing authenticity. We already questioned whether influencers truly stood behind the product they were endorsing, and now these products are being endorsed by virtual characters who won’t ever actually use a product. If a brand quietly introduces a realistic-looking character that they later reveal to be AI, many individuals will rightly feel duped, and this could alienate consumers. Users still expect influencers to share genuine, relatable experiences, and it doesn’t seem like humans can relate to robots that well.
In August 2024, the United States Federal Trade Commission announced a rule that prohibits fake and artificial-intelligence-created customer reviews or testimonials. As AI continues to infiltrate advertising, we would expect these regulations to continue to be stringent to protect the interests of consumers.
Meta quietly introduced around a dozen artificial Instagram and Facebook accounts in late 2023, but deleted them in early January 2025 after public outcry. On a platform already experiencing a bot problem, there’s concern that introducing more AI-generated profiles will further erode the presence of real people on Facebook.
As AI continues to evolve, it is possible that regulations may change as well, and frequent changes can drive up compliance costs, which would make it difficult for brands to plan long-term strategies around AI influencers. Brands are encouraged to stay up-to-date with compliance considerations, such as disclosure, data handling, and intellectual property.
The rise of AI has been a complicated journey for many brands, and AI influencers are just one more way to market a product. With the potential to reduce costs and streamline content creation, AI influencers represent an opportunity for brands to expand their reach in a novel way. However, with the challenges around ethics and authenticity, many brands may choose to avoid any artificially created influencers, and stick with real people.