Brands are increasingly testing AI influencers, but trust in them is low
Global influencer marketing spend is forecast to reach $32.5 billion in 2025, with much of the new growth coming from AI influencers, according to a new case study by UNmiss.
From polished AI Instagram avatars to TikTok personalities who never sleep, brands are increasingly testing whether audiences care if creators are real or virtual.
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Synthesia reports that AI-influencers allow clients to produce content up to 90 percent faster, with DuPont reportedly saving $10,000 per video and Mondelez cutting production time from 100 hours to 10 minutes.
Not everyone is sold on the idea of watching AI influencers flogging products, however. An investigation by the Financial Times earlier this year found that human creators generated 2.7 times more engagement than AI personas, and their sponsored posts averaged $78,777 compared with just $1,694 for AI campaigns.
Trust is a big issue. A 2024 survey conducted by The Influencer Marketing Factory found 53 percent of people already follow at least one virtual influencer, but only 15 percent trust them. That’s hardly surprising, given that these are fake people generated purely to promote something.
Around 36 percent want AI personas to disclose their artificial nature, while Gen Z is 46 percent more interested in following AI influencers than older groups.
AI influencers replacing humans
Anatolii Ulitovskyi, founder at UNmiss.com, said: “People want to connect with people, but the reality is they often don’t know if they connect with real people. AI influencers aren’t just assistants; they’re replacements. Anyway, all AI influencers are driven by humans, and the industry is growing in the direction of using more AI tools.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the path forward appears to be using a blend of real and AI. While the latter can scale campaigns quickly across languages and platforms, human influencers are still viewed as being more trustworthy (even though, unlike their AI counterparts, they are often handsomely paid to promote the products) and more relatable.
With EU AI Act and FTC disclosure rules requiring transparency, future success will ultimately depend on brands being able to successfully balance AI efficiency with credibility.
What do you think about AI influencers? Let us know in the comments.