Social media influencers are embracing artificial intelligence to spice up their content, but they also face increased competition from AI-generated Instagrammers, TikTokers, and YouTubers.
Aitana Lopez, who sports pink hair and poses in lingerie, swimsuits and gym clothes, has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram and describes herself as a “die-hard gamer” and “fitness enthusiast.” But she's not real.
Aitana was created by Barcelona-based The Clueless. The company bills itself as an “AI modeling agency” run by “visionaries on a mission to redefine the world of influencers.”
Sofia Novales, project manager for The Clueless, said the company's creation was motivated by the “increasing costs associated with human influencers.”
“Virtual models are a more economical alternative because they are digital,” Novales said.
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Another benefit is that you have complete control over your content.
“The benefit lies in unparalleled creative control, allowing seamless decision-making about image, fashion and aesthetics without the need for a physical photoshoot,” Novales said.
The rise of AI has raised concerns about the proliferation of deepfake videos that could be used for malicious purposes.
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Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, announced Friday that it will begin labeling AI-generated content with the “Made with AI” label starting in May.
AI presents huge business opportunities for content creators. According to Allied Market Research, the influencer market is expected to grow rapidly from $16.5 billion in 2022 to nearly $200 billion by 2032.
The use of virtual influencers is nothing new, and Barbie already has millions of followers on Instagram.
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But now they are being used in advertisements that are indistinguishable from real people.
Take Lil Miquela, a “19-year-old robot living in LA” created by a California agency in 2016.
Lil Makita, who has 2.6 million followers on Instagram and 3.5 million followers on TikTok, has promoted brands as big as BMW.
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The German luxury carmaker said in a statement to AFP that the idea was to “create something never seen before.”
“Attracting a young, tech-savvy generation is something we are most excited about,” the newspaper said.
Maud Lejeune, head of Paris-based digital strategy firm AD Crew, said it is not difficult for the public to accept AI influencers.
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“It's like actors on TV. We know it's not real, but we follow them and find them interesting. It's like watching a miniseries. ”
While AD Crew represents more than 30 influencers, Lejeune founded his own virtual influencer, Metagaya, two years ago.
“Back then, the level of design that we have now didn't exist. It was technical, you had to put on costumes, take pictures for backgrounds, create a story,” Lejeune said. , admitted that Meta Gaya didn't do very well.
Rapid technological advances brought about by things like OpenAI's Sora video generator could make it easier to create and operate realistic virtual influencers.
Human influencers are also leveraging AI technology to create better videos.
France's Charles Sterlings sees an opportunity to improve translation.
He uses various tools on platforms like HeyGen and Rask.ai to automatically translate and lip-sync his video posts into English and Spanish.
Stallings also uses DeepShot, a platform that allows users to create deepfakes by altering people's words and mouth movements in real videos.
He said it took just a few minutes and a few dollars to edit a video of French President Emmanuel Macron.
But Stallings sees the technology as both a useful tool and a competitor.
“Anyone with a mobile phone can become an influencer, but ultimately it will be artificial intelligence, available 24 hours a day, and much cheaper to develop,” he said. .
For Maud Lejeune, AI helps influencers create more content.
“Putting yourself in front of a camera for long periods of time is exhausting and burns out some creators…Maybe AI will give us new ways to create without exposing ourselves,” she said. Ta.
The Clueless has no qualms about its AI models taking business away from real influencers.
“We do not expect physical models to become obsolete or be replaced by AI-generated models like Aitana,” Novales said. “In our view, they can coexist as separate competitors in the industry.”