Inside the diabolical world of very convincing AI thirst traps that are scamming gay men on social media
TL;DR
This story was originally published in The Highlight. To get access to member-exclusive stories like this every month, become a Vox Member today. Derek Lam has more than 31,000 followers on TikTok and nearly 40,000 on X as of this writing. He is shirtless a lot, he dances a lot, and he is shirtless dancing a lot, which may explain how he got so many fans.
Nauti's Take
AI avatars lower the barrier to creator formats dramatically, and that opportunity is exactly what makes them interesting for marketing and community building. The catch shows up here in its purest form: the same technique produces people who do not exist, complete with reach, comments, and a payment request.
Teams testing AI avatars for social media, dating, or creator commerce should build in reverse image checks, provenance records, clear labeling, and human review before any monetization.
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