Help! My Influencer Is AI

Let’s take our minds way back to when Influencers first bloomed, why did we like them?

Authenticity for a start, instead of customers being exposed to high quality ads filled with photoshopped models, we had the down to earth girl next door. Women like Zoe Sugg and Tanya Burr gave us an authentic opinion on products, made us feel like we were sitting getting ready with friends, taught most 24-32year olds make up tips they still use today, and influenced us to buy in a way that no Influencer has been able to truly recreate.

But what if I told you Meta was giving your favourite influencer the chance to implement an AI version of themselves?

The project has been in development for a while, and it’s officially launching in Beta. The AI Studio will enable creators on Instagram to build AI versions of themselves that can interact with fans via DM.

As you can see this example, Meta’s custom AI bots, currently in Beta, and in limited testing with selected creators, will be able to answer questions in the style of that account.

The AI bot will have a stars icon on the message tab, signalling that this is a bot response stream, while there are also disclaimers notes in the chat, explaining that it is in fact an AI bot that you’re engaging with.

So it should be clear you’re not talking to the real person or account holder. But does that ruin the authenticity of influencers?

The main focus of AI Studio, or the simple use case, according to Zuckerberg, is to answer fact-based queries, with the more challenging element coming in answers that are more creative, and replicate the style of the creator. Zuckerberg says that creators will have the freedom to train their bots on different aspects of their social media presence, and through this, that should enable them to generate more life-like replicas of themselves.

Yet, as noted, Meta also doesn’t want to trick people into thinking they’re engaging with the real person. Zuckerberg noted that they’re still working on the AI disclosure elements, but there are various signifiers in-stream.

But the bigger question that I have is “Why?” Why would people want to engage with a bot that sounds like a person of profile, when they’re not actually engaging with a human at all?

I mean, I get the basic use case, in regards to creators getting a heap of queries, and only having so much time to personally respond. This is the fact-based element, where the bots will be able to provide, essentially, generic answers to common questions, in the style of the creator. But expanding into other areas seems inherently deceptive, and also, counter to the entire focus of “social” media platforms.

What do you think?