A look at the rise of AI-generated virtual influencers, with some charging thousands of dollars to promote products, leading to concerns from human influencers
Hyper-realistic ‘virtual influencers’ are being used to promote leading brands — drawing ire from human content creators
Financial TimesCristina Criddle
Context & Ripple Effects
Virtual influencers are emerging as a commercial format rather than a novelty: brands can buy promotional posts from synthetic personas, putting them in the same deal flow as independent creators.
A larger supply of marketable personas could make scarcity less valuable in influencer marketing, shifting differentiation toward audience trust, creative quality, and distribution rather than simply access to a recognizable face.
If synthetic posts become pervasive, audience fatigue documented in later coverage may limit the format's effectiveness and make disclosure and authenticity practices more consequential.
The trend: This is one instance of AI content commercialization expanding the supply of advertising inventory while testing how much audiences value human authenticity.
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