How many of you are planning to invest in AI influencers in the future?
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, "The near future of (influencer) social media marketing"
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Trying to avoid it. I dont think you can build trust using AI influencers.
Querri
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@norteapp But maybe recognition through some non-human looking creature. Mascot.
@busmark_w_nika That def yes!
Querri
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@amy_ingram 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.
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@akash_03 AI pretending to be humans – NO, but maybe some mascot – maybe maybe
@busmark_w_nika maybe!!
Tactiq
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.
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@heyitsirenechan Do you have social media accounts running that experiment? I am curious! :D
Tactiq
@busmark_w_nika it was only on my youtube channel. here is the playlist of all the ai videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbuULGO2oMQ4JDTOElfT9h6H_YvKNIu2U&si=9tqek8a8fr17MuKH
this was a year ago. heygen is much better now.
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@heyitsirenechan ty, will check it out!
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@rajan_batra3 Do you have someone in mind? Female/Male? I really like the idea of a gaming-look character.
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@rajan_batra3 I have a problem differentiating even now! :D
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@ifunanya_vivian_ugwuoke Maybe human will be a privilege in a few years :)
Triforce Todos
Interesting topic, I feel AI avatars could scale marketing, but authenticity might take a hit
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@abod_rehman I do not want to see them as a part of human interaction pretending they are humans. It is better to tell the truth.
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@luiscalvillo 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
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@sydney_layne1 But AI infl. are already so similar to humans. Can you imagine them as a marketing asset?
@busmark_w_nika 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
TinyCommand
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”?
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@priyanka_gosai1 Can't say certainly, but I would have a favourite AI mascot than a favourite AI human influencer.
TinyCommand
@busmark_w_nika 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?
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@priyanka_gosai1 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.
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@lara_laurielle It seems that Meta's project that was relying on an AI feed is also in decline:
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/data-shows-that-metas-ai-based-vibes-feed-is-struggling-to-hold-attentio/805862/
Authenticity and human touch matter :)