Are AI Influencers Destroying Real Creativity?
Abby A.

No, I do not think AI influencers should be allowed on social media. They threaten people’s job if they work as an influencer because they will start losing engagement because everybody is watching AI people. However, although I believe all of this, I don’t believe it is deceptive to make an AI character seem human. Many AI videos will say that the video is AI-generated. However, it is deceitful if they’re trying to mimic human memories and struggles.

In 2024, major media companies began rolling out fully artificial “influencers,” also known as computer‑generated models, pop stars, and podcast hosts with fake personalities and fake backstories. They’re all across Instagram, TikTok, and even Spotify. These AI characters look real, act real, and talk like they’re living actual lives, even though none of it exists. As these digital creations spread across social media, the question becomes unavoidable: Why are we letting fictitious people take up real space?

Brands already prefer AI because they’re cheaper, easier to control, and rarely make mistakes. No scheduling conflicts, no scandals, no mental health breaks, just endless content.
But, that’s exactly the problem. When companies choose a digital puppet over a real person, they’re not just cutting costs. They’re disposing human creativity entirely. Creativity comes from a living person: Someone who can feel emotions, who has memories, or has felt pain or joy. AI can mimic creativity and humans, but they don’t feel anything because at the end of the day, they’re robots.

Furthermore, AI has not just been mimicking creativity, but human struggles too, which makes it appear that AI companies are mocking humans. According to a New York Times article about Inception AI, a company that creates these humanoid influencers, “The characters are often given personal struggles — like Rhea Patel’s dead brother — to make them seem more relatable.” Although they are trying to make the characters seem relatable, this is still deceptive to younger audiences that think they have emotional connections with someone that isn’t capable of feeling. Having AI, something that does not feel a single thing, act like they have struggles is extremely deceptive.

Some people argue that AI influencers boost creativity by giving designers and brands new tools to experiment with. They say digital characters can be styled in ways real people can’t, and that small companies benefit from cheaper, customizable models. But even if AI seems innovative, it’s still built from human ideas and data. It doesn’t create anything on its own; it just copies what real artists already made. So instead of expanding creativity, AI influencers end up replacing the very people they’re borrowing from. , a very strong woman was doing quick pull-ups for a social media video while matching the beat to a song. Someone decided to use AI to edit their face over the original woman’s body, completely stealing her work.
We shouldn’t get rid of AI entirely, but we should draw a line. AI characters should be clearly labeled, restricted from competing for brand deals meant for real people, and prevented from pretending to be human. There should be a wall when AI is asked to pretend to be human. Social media was built by real creators, and it should stay that way.
If we want a future where creativity still matters, we need to protect it now, before the real voices get drowned out by artificial ones.
SOURCES USED
https://app.letterly.io/api/letterly/documents/view?url=letterly%2Fdocuments%2Flink%2F88546
https://theconversation.com/ai-tools-collect-and-store-data-about-you-from-all-your-devices-heres-how-to-be-aware-of-what-youre-revealing-251693

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