AI Creators Could Disrupt the Influencer Economy
In June, Jeremy Carrasco took his first steps into the world of TikTok and Instagram, and in no time, he’s racked up over 300,000 followers on both platforms. While he may not be hitting Charli D’Amelio levels, he’s certainly carved out a significant presence in the realm of AI literacy on social media.
Jeremy shared that he always had aspirations of becoming a YouTuber, but instead found himself behind the scenes as a producer and director for multicamera livestreams. It wasn’t until he noticed that the conversation around generative AI was largely dominated by tech companies that he decided to jump in himself. “We need voices from creators and producers,” he noted. Although he maintains a YouTube channel, it’s on TikTok and Instagram where he’s truly connected with his audience.
Initially, his goal was to educate people on how to effectively use AI. He named his page showtoolsai, driven by a hopeful outlook on AI’s ethical applications in video production. However, that optimism was short-lived.
He quickly discovered that there was a significant gap in discussions about the fundamentals of identifying AI-generated videos. “There’s a need for this … and I had all the requisite knowledge to do it,” he explained. He recognized that the current wave of AI influencers wasn’t equipped to start this conversation, emphasizing the need for someone from the creator community to step up.
Jeremy found his niche by highlighting the telltale signs of AI videos, such as fuzzy textures, wobbly eyes, and objects that seem to appear and disappear in the background. While his main focus is on AI literacy and spotting low-quality AI content, he’s also begun exploring the risks and challenges posed by the increasing volume and sophistication of AI-generated videos, particularly for creators.
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AI red flags
* Soft skin textures and “dreamy” vibes
* “Sora Noise” or textures that move and dance
* Inconsistent background details
* Gibberish instead of real words on signs or documents
* Wobbly eyes
* Creepily perfect teeth
* Rushed speech patterns
* It’s too good to be true
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In the creator economy, attention is everything. With an endless stream of AI-generated content flooding the space, Jeremy wants to make it clear that “this isn’t hard.” Tools like Sora 2 are free and have lowered the barriers for producing clips, capable of generating audio and often appearing quite convincing at first glance.
The motivations behind this content creation aren’t always malicious. Sometimes, it’s simply about racking up views and tapping into the TikTok Creator Fund. A seven-second AI clip of a cat doing something silly might not seem valuable on its own, but when compiled into a minute-long video that garners five million views, it could earn the creator around $1,000, which can be a significant income for someone in a developing country.
However, there are certainly some bad actors in the mix. For instance, an AI account focused on Chinese medicine, known as Yang Mun (or Yang Mugs), is seen as a blatant scam. It features a caricature of an Eastern-style healer dispensing health advice aimed at Western audiences. With over 1.5 million followers, it generates revenue purely from views on Instagram, but the real scam lies in directing viewers to a website to purchase an $11 ebook. If the ebook exists at all, it’s likely generated by AI, just like the videos.
Others, like Maddie Quinn, go beyond mere scams; they actively steal content and hijack the likenesses of creators. These accounts take videos from female creators and replace their faces with AI-generated avatars. In some cases, creators find their entire likenesses appropriated and used in AI-generated content on platforms like OnlyFans.
When asked about the ethical use of generative AI in the creator space, Jeremy is skeptical, stating, “generally no.” However, he acknowledges that there are exceptions for accessibility and cultural considerations that complicate a straightforward rejection.
Some companies have attempted to create ethical video generation models by training AI solely on their own content libraries, but Jeremy points out that this often lacks sufficient data to produce anything useful. “The only way to make AI video as a generative tool is to steal a bunch of people’s data … that’s fundamentally flawed and should be rejected.”
Unfortunately, the platforms themselves are contributing to the decline of the creator economy that has fueled their growth. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube have allowed a flood of low-quality AI content, often failing to enforce their own rules about labeling AI-generated material. This not only makes it harder for creators to stand out but also diminishes the platforms’ appeal to users.
To complicate matters further, these platforms are developing their own generative AI tools. “Creators are basically just running ad agencies,” Jeremy explains. While sponsorship deals are a primary revenue source for creators, AI is quickly taking over ad production, often with questionable quality. As AI-generated content becomes more prevalent in advertising, it threatens to undermine the entire creator economy.
Companies like Meta, Amazon, and DirecTV have all ventured into generative AI ad services, and Jeremy predicts they will eventually offer advertising services directly to clients. Some creators might be tempted to jump on the AI bandwagon for profit, but Jeremy cautions, “it’s very rational to question if this is actually a good business opportunity for any creators, but I don’t think it is.”
