AI-generated influencers are changing digital culture by letting audiences connect with non-human personas that mimic social relationships. By 2026, these synthetic influencers have become key players in the creator economy, leading brands to rethink how they split marketing budgets between human creators and algorithmic personas. These artificial agents offer advantages such as scalability, multilingual communication, and brand safety, while shifting the idea of authenticity toward consistent storytelling rather than biological origin. Studies show younger audiences often form one-sided connections with artificial influencers even though they know they are not human. Still, the rise of AI-generated identities raises ethical concerns about transparency, bias, and identity theft. This paper reviews recent research and the results suggest that future influence will likely combine human creativity with algorithmic scale, backed by clear governance frameworks.
Ms. Sibyl Sequeira (Sat,) studied this question.