William Gasner is the Marketing Director of Influence of the batterya micro-influencer marketing platform connecting e-commerce brands with creators at scale.
In the 1970s, at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, a roboticist named Masahiro Mori introduced a concept he called the “uncanny valley.“It describes a phenomenon that Mori observed: the more realistic robots become, the more attractive they become, but only up to a certain point, and then the attraction quickly turns into disenchanted repulsion. In other words, as a robot comes closer to a real human image, it begins to evoke strange feelings in people.
Half a century after Mori introduced the uncanny valley theory, we now live in a world where Amazon has over 750,000 robots To help you organize your weekend online shopping, AI has become an integral part of many companies’ new features. Among these new AI technologies, we can mention the arrival of AI influence tools like TikTok’s New Symphony Creative Studio.
Last month, I was invited to beta test TikTok’s new AI video creation tools, and I was left with a sense of strangeness. As the co-founder of a micro-influencer marketing platform, I view hundreds of influencers’ content every day, and at first glance, I was extremely impressed by the technology, producing content that was far better than any AI-generated content I’d seen before. However, as I produced more videos with the software, those strange feelings started to set in.
THE The New York Times published an article in June titled “AI influencer ads are coming,” and the newspaper is not wrong. As the technology to create realistic images and videos evolves rapidly, we could soon be completely bombarded with AI-generated content (AGC).
Already, artificially created influencers like Lu do Magalu and Miquela have emerged and now reach millions of followers on social platforms. These digital entities not only promote brands, but also share messages on social issues, blurring the lines between the virtual world and reality. With the emergence of AI influencers and AI-generated content, The big question for me is: will these technologies take over the growing creator economy and replace human influencers?
The Future of Influence
In recent years, influencer content has become a mainstay of digital marketing initiatives, increase consumer confidence and improve online ad conversions. The introduction of AI influencers and AGC has created a paradox in the influencer world. On the one hand, AI-produced content can be highly engaging, tailored to appeal to a target audience, and immune to human creators’ mistakes.
On the other hand, the very essence of influencer content lies in its authenticity and human touch, qualities that AGC currently lacks. This raises crucial questions about the future of influencer marketing. Will consumers continue to value authentic content created by humans, or will the novelty and scalability of AI content shift the balance?
The debate around AI influencers and AGC is complex. Proponents of the AI revolution argue that AI technology can democratize content creationproviding every brand with the opportunity to produce high-quality content without the unpredictability and management logistics of dealing with human influencers.
Critics, however, warn against the dehumanization of digital environments. They stress the importance of transparency, highlighting the risk of deception when the public cannot easily distinguish what is being generated by AI. Ethical considerations also come into play, including copyright and the portrayal of unrealistic standards.
There is also a big debate about whether AGC ads will actually convert better than human-generated influencer content, or whether they will be met with consumer antipathy. I personally think it will be very difficult for AI content to surpass the impressive ROI that micro-influencer campaigns can generate these days, but only time will tell.
The battle for consumer trust
The advent of AI influencers marks a significant shift in the digital age, challenging human perceptions of creativity, authenticity, and the essence of influence. As we venture into this uncharted territory, the future of content marketing success will be determined by our ability to effectively integrate technological advancements with the human experiences that make up our social fabric and create trust in brands.
For my part, I believe human influencers will survive and thrive on the strange sense of the unknown that will inevitably set in when consumers’ social feeds are filled with AI-generated ads. AI influencers may be able to compete with influencer superstars like the Kardashians, but they’re unlikely to be able to compete with regular social media influencers who produce authentic testimonials for a highly engaged audience of friends, family, and passionate followers.
As AI becomes more sophisticated, we may also see a new genre of influencer content emerge that combines human creativity with AI capabilities, allowing influencers to upload their image into AI content generators, or simply use AI to optimize their content creation. Platforms, brands, and creators must navigate this evolving landscape with caution and balance innovation, authenticity, and ethical considerations.
As we move along this path, dialogue between business leaders, content creators, and the general public will be crucial in shaping a future where AI and influencer content coexist. In this future, AI will complement rather than contradict the human element at the heart of social media.
