Visit “Aitana Lopez” on Instagram. As you scroll down, the account looks like that of any of the hundreds (or thousands) of “influencer” accounts on Instagram. “Aitana” post photos from her travels, of her wearing various clothes, and making references to various brands.
Except… it’s fake.
As described on Ars Technica, this account is a complete fabrication developed by an ad agency in Barcelona.
Why? Because they found that regular human “influencers” were starting to charge to much.
And so they wanted a cheaper way for their customers to advertise.
And so “AI-tana” was created. To be fair, they are very open about it being AI-generated. It’s right there in “her” bio.
But other “virtual influencers” will not be so clear. And you won’t be able to know if an account is real or virtual.
Now, let’s be honest, that can also be the case today without generative AI. You can have an Instagram account with photos that come from stock photography or some other service - or could be of someone else.
But generative AI just makes this SO much easier.
And there’s no surprise… advertisers have always been looking for ways to pay less for advertising. This is just the natural evolution.
