The AI craze is here, and it’s taking a lot more effort to differentiate between AI and reality. From badly designed AI photos, we’ve advanced to a full-scale AI generation pipeline that includes photos, flyers, videos, and content schedules. Now, the latest craze is “AI influencers”. Beyond creating content with AI, more brands are leaning towards creating their own “influencers” with AI. While some of these avatars are still clearly discernible, some look, sound, and engage social media trends like actual human influencers.
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On the surface, AI influencers seem harmless. But when you factor in the increase in misinformation, propaganda, rage-baiting, and fear-mongering as a content strategy, there’s a lot of risk to unpack. Top cybersecurity news platforms are already asking the real question - with the lines between AI and reality being heavily blurred, how can users tell the difference?
Initially, they were mostly seen on text-content platforms like X., but the recent growth in AI video/photo generation has ushered in a new wave of AI influencers who post videos and pictures, and also stream live across platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat.
On the business side, brands have been doing a lot of AI content testing, and the results are more favorable than regular content. Investigative outlets like Cybernews report that this is largely because AI content is technically cheaper, faster, and easier to generate.
Besides this, most brands spend time and money trying to game the social media algorithm for wider reach. But, the prevailing issue is that you may do everything “right”, yet the algorithm will still not be favorable in pushing the curated content without paid boosts or ads. AI influencers don’t have such problems.
Despite the recent spike in flagging of AI content, AI influencers and their content have been successful in gaming algorithms way better than human content. While the average human social media manager needs to strategically create content, schedule posting to optimal times during the day, and also jump on trends, AI influencers don’t have to jump through so many hoops. In a way, the fact that AI influencers are born of “codes”, much like platform algorithms, it seems their ability to understand and exploit the system is innate. Hence, it’s no surprise that brands and businesses are choosing them over human influencers and social media managers.
With AI content getting more sophisticated, it’s nearly impossible to tell what is “real” or not. But there are still telltale signs that users can rely on.
Here are 5 ways to spot the difference:
With numerous reports on self-harm caused by AI conversations and posts, it’s unsurprising that many nations are actively seeking to regulate AI content and protect younger minds. What’s more is the fact that with AI influencers primarily posting biased content, it’s a lot more difficult for actual brand voices to be heard.
But that’s where content monitoring and revision come in. While AI influencers run automatically, having a human content strategist review whatever goes out remains the best way to regulate AI content to reflect brand voice, pass authentic information, and also retain the human touch.
On the surface, AI influencers seem harmless. But when you factor in the increase in misinformation, propaganda, rage-baiting, and fear-mongering as a content strategy, there’s a lot of risk to unpack. Top cybersecurity news platforms are already asking the real question - with the lines between AI and reality being heavily blurred, how can users tell the difference?
What are AI Influencers?
AI influencers are virtual personas created by brands or developers that operate without a real human identity behind them. These AI-created avatars post content, speak, and act like actual human influencers. Although they're highly adaptable, they’re just like chatbots and automated posts, which aren’t real and primarily interact using preset content and information.Initially, they were mostly seen on text-content platforms like X., but the recent growth in AI video/photo generation has ushered in a new wave of AI influencers who post videos and pictures, and also stream live across platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat.
The AI Appeal
There’s a popular dilemma with AI content, and it’s the fact that most internet users feel it's inauthentic. There’s always a cry for content that feels human and connects on an emotional level. While the desire for authentic human content is valid, there’s a contrasting reality in which AI content starts looking more appealing. In most cases, users cringe-watch AI content despite the latent dislike for AI. Gradually, this has evolved into users slowly getting comfortable with and seeking out AI content. For instance, while the typical glitches seen in AI-generated content can be annoying, they also provide cringe enjoyment.On the business side, brands have been doing a lot of AI content testing, and the results are more favorable than regular content. Investigative outlets like Cybernews report that this is largely because AI content is technically cheaper, faster, and easier to generate.
Besides this, most brands spend time and money trying to game the social media algorithm for wider reach. But, the prevailing issue is that you may do everything “right”, yet the algorithm will still not be favorable in pushing the curated content without paid boosts or ads. AI influencers don’t have such problems.
Despite the recent spike in flagging of AI content, AI influencers and their content have been successful in gaming algorithms way better than human content. While the average human social media manager needs to strategically create content, schedule posting to optimal times during the day, and also jump on trends, AI influencers don’t have to jump through so many hoops. In a way, the fact that AI influencers are born of “codes”, much like platform algorithms, it seems their ability to understand and exploit the system is innate. Hence, it’s no surprise that brands and businesses are choosing them over human influencers and social media managers.
3 Ways To Tell the Difference
At the moment, we’ve already had funny teasers of “cake vs real”. A whole new content niche has also been created centering on “AI vs real”.With AI content getting more sophisticated, it’s nearly impossible to tell what is “real” or not. But there are still telltale signs that users can rely on.
Here are 5 ways to spot the difference:
AI is Soulless and Agreeable:
The common perception is that AI has “no soul”. As such, it’s mostly a yes-man that’s trained to conform to the preferences and gimmicks of users and prompts. A quick review of most AI influencer accounts would reveal that just like their chatbot counterparts, they are loyal to a fault. They have no moral inhibition except the restrictions placed by their code. And this makes them the perfect channel for rage-baiting, clout chasing, trend hopping, and churning controversies, which the average human influencer would hesitate on. So, if an influencer is sounding “too agreeable” and is hopping on every trend, it’s most likely AI.Detail Inconsistencies:
Most AI content defies visual laws. Lighting is often too crisp, and there are noticeable changes in background detail. A character might appear with white hair in one frame, but it unexplainably switches to black in the next frame. And there's the infamous excess fingers and toes.Exaggerated Smoothness:
With AI, there's always an unnatural smoothness to character details. No matter how trained or glammed up a human is, there's an uneven roughness to the skin and fluctuations in speech that are innate. But with AI, characters are often too smooth in appearance and speech. Even if an AI character looks rough, there’s always that smoothness or precision that tells it off.Conclusion
While users are mostly concerned with what is AI vs real, the ultimate question is about what is “true”. Propaganda and misinformation are two of the biggest risks with AI. Since AI typically reinforces user bias, it typically hallucinates facts and context in a way that is agreeable but misleading.With numerous reports on self-harm caused by AI conversations and posts, it’s unsurprising that many nations are actively seeking to regulate AI content and protect younger minds. What’s more is the fact that with AI influencers primarily posting biased content, it’s a lot more difficult for actual brand voices to be heard.
But that’s where content monitoring and revision come in. While AI influencers run automatically, having a human content strategist review whatever goes out remains the best way to regulate AI content to reflect brand voice, pass authentic information, and also retain the human touch.
