Purpose While artificial intelligence (AI) influencers increasingly resemble humans in appearance and behaviour, understanding whether AI influencers can build relationships with consumers requires exploring how these influencers mentally connect with humans. This study investigates how the AI influencer's humanlike appearance and self-disclosure affect consumers' responses through physical and mental humanlikeness. Design/methodology/approach Incorporating social penetration theory, anthropomorphism theories and mind perception theory, the hypotheses were developed. A between-subjects online experiment was conducted with female consumers aged 18–40 (n = 721). Findings AI influencers' humanlike appearance and high self-disclosure increased physical and mental humanlikeness perception, respectively. The effects of mental humanlikeness were more pronounced than those of physical humanlikeness, as its impacts on closeness and authenticity were stronger, ultimately enhancing relationship and business outcomes. Originality/value Our findings highlight the significant role of an AI influencer's mental humanlikeness in building relationships with people. The research underscores the importance for brands to partner with and/or develop AI influencers with high mental humanlikeness to achieve effective relationship and marketing outcomes.
Kim et al. (2026) studied this question.