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How many of you are planning to invest in AI influencers in the future?

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Many brands have their long-standing mascots (McDonald's, Mr Clean, Michelin), etc. But with the development of AI, physical forms are moving online, and AI avatars look promising in this.

On one hand, it feels less human (authentic), on the other hand, AI influencers are a "cheaper" solution.

  • How many of you are considering having an AI influencer, and what is your opinion on this concept within marketing?

  • If you have experience, what software do you use to create and "maintain" them?

By the way, I wrote about how and where influencer marketing will grow in 2026 in my last article,

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Trying to avoid it. I dont think you can build trust using AI influencers.

at this point of time I feel the same way. I feel like there are great uses for AI and AI avatars but for building trust… I’m not so sure about, but that might change in the future. 

 But maybe recognition through some non-human looking creature. Mascot.

 That def yes!

I feel like if it were an AI mascot, I would trust that more than an AI that’s supposed to be human 😅. Not sure that even makes sense 😂.

 I am the same :D because it would personify humans, but if it doesn't look like a human, I am more likely to trust it :D

I'm not sure if AI influencers are good with connecting with people.. and I guess for most of the brands that connection is what matters, which AI social influencers don't have.

 AI pretending to be humans – NO, but maybe some mascot – maybe maybe

 maybe!!

I'm interested in turning myself into an AI "influencer." What I did was create an avatar of me in heygen and then published shorts with it. My name is Irene and my ai avatar's name is AIrene. 😆 it was an experiment for 8 weeks and the shorts actually got hundreds of views each and i even got one lead who booked a call because of it. he couldn't tell it was AI.

i think i see the future of current influencers turning themselves into AI to scale their content production.

 Do you have social media accounts running that experiment? I am curious! :D

 it was only on my youtube channel. here is the playlist of all the ai videos:

this was a year ago. heygen is much better now.

 ty, will check it out!

I have thought about it, and I probably will in the near future when I see fit.

 Do you have someone in mind? Female/Male? I really like the idea of a gaming-look character.

Not yet, but as the space evolves I'm sure there will be more realistic AI influencers and it will be hard to tell them from humans

 I have a problem differentiating even now! :D

AI influencers are cool but I think any brand serious with growth should use real human beings in their influencer marketing campaigns. Maybe a 70-30 ratio? 70 for human and 30 for AI

 Maybe human will be a privilege in a few years :)

Interesting topic, I feel AI avatars could scale marketing, but authenticity might take a hit

 I do not want to see them as a part of human interaction pretending they are humans. It is better to tell the truth.

I think AI influencers would help a brand if it was obviously AI like a stylized human (Not trying to pose as a real person) or with a non-human mascot. I just think of those websites that would use stock images with those fake customer service “employees”, and it made me trust the company less.

 OK, so rather not faking humans, but better having some abstract appearance, right?

i don't think i'll invest in ai influencers ever. people can easily tell the difference between ai and real humans now, and from what i've seen, they still prefer genuine human interaction. ai tools are great for productivity, but when it comes to influence authenticity still matters the most IMO

 But AI infl. are already so similar to humans. Can you imagine them as a marketing asset?

 yeah, they're impressive for sure, i just think there's something about real people that audiences trust more, maybe in the future it'll change. but for me personally, it's not something i'd invest in tbh

That’s such a timely question, I’ve been seeing more brands quietly experiment with AI influencers, especially in fashion and gaming. The tricky part isn’t creating the avatar, it’s sustaining a believable personality arc over time.

From what I’ve seen, audiences still crave some trace of human unpredictability. I’m curious, do you think AI influencers will ever build trust the way human creators do, or will they stay more like “brand mascots with a face”?

 Can't say certainly, but I would have a favourite AI mascot than a favourite AI human influencer.

 Totally agree, an AI mascot feels easier to accept because it’s not “pretending” to be human.
I’m curious though… what makes a mascot cross that line into being a favorite for you?

 It needs to look either really authentic (like something I have never seen before) and it needs to be a some sort of animal :D

Good question, you've made me think of it, but i don't see myself investing in Ai influencer anytime soon, personally i value genuine human to human engagement to rely on AI for that.

 It seems that Meta's project that was relying on an AI feed is also in decline:

Authenticity and human touch matter :)

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