Brands using AI-generated influencers to promote products on social media
TL;DR
A Guardian investigation found brands using AI-generated influencers on Instagram that appear to show real customer experiences, often without an obvious signal that the people are not real. Examples include Once, Maket and Ashle. Reality Defenders assessed several posts as likely AI-generated; Ashle removed images from social media after questions from the Guardian.
Nauti's Take
This is the predictable end point of performance marketing treating authenticity as just another format. AI influencers are cheap, controllable and free from human risk, but they push advertising toward deception-by-design.
If a brand simulates real people, it should have to label that clearly. Otherwise creator marketing becomes a stage set of invented customers.
Briefingshow
The issue is not that brands use AI in advertising. The problem starts when synthetic people are packaged as apparently real customer experiences. UGC works because it borrows trust from everyday life, spontaneity and authenticity.
If that can be mass-produced, platforms, brands and regulators need clearer disclosure rules.
Sources