According to a recent Morning Consult research, over 50% of Gen Zers aspire to be full-time influencers, and it makes sense. They grew up watching their friends describe their "Fortnite" games, show off cosmetic techniques, and explain money on YouTube. It serves as their home and their place of education about the outside world. In addition, the career path sounds like a dream job: all you have to do is be excellent on camera, you can become your boss, and you can earn more than you would in typical work. Stories of influencers becoming millionaires have only served to inspire the current generation. "Gen Z explicitly wants to become influencers, are trained to become influencers, do camps to become influencers, strategize in a variety of ways to become an influencer," Angèle Christin, a professor at Stanford studying the influencer industry, stated.

Many great influencers rose to prominence by accident ten years ago. They were simply average individuals sharing personal stories or displaying specialized skills until they found themselves in front of a large audience and companies eager to collaborate with them. Any moment might be a fortuitous one for someone. But the influencer economy has changed in the last few years. The days of a casual assignment suddenly becoming a successful profession are long gone. Aside from the labor that comes with being an influencer, the rivalry becomes more intense every day as more individuals strive for recognition.

To exacerbate the situation, aspiring influencers will soon face competition from artificial intelligence in addition to people. An industry of AI influencers has emerged as a result of advancements in AI technology, and big businesses are starting to express interest in their far more affordable marketing strategy. And with that, who could compete?


Let the Ringlight Emerge for Generation Z!
(Source: Google Images) 

Throwing a Light On The Influencer Market ~ 

According to Nikita Baklanov, an analyst at HypeAuditor, an influencer marketing business, the market for influencers is fully saturated. "Only 800,000 accounts have over 100,000 followers," he stated, citing data from his firm, out of Instagram's around 2 billion monthly active users. Though it represents fewer than 1% of accounts, it is still a sizable number. Additionally, the quantity is rising. It takes effort to stand out in a crowded field. Long-time influencers are already feeling the effects, according to Julia Broome, social media manager for celebrities and influencers. "Creators that were able to get a big buzz or get a huge following back in the day, they're experiencing some drop-off," she stated.

To be financially sustainable, the majority of influencers nowadays require a diverse range of money streams, according to Baklanov. They must sell courses, make their merchandise, or provide subscriptions. They need to be more than just social media these days. "Platforms are always evolving. Algorithms are dynamic. The forms are always evolving. Eventually, the influencers realize that they need to cultivate a devoted following and expand that following outside social media platforms, as Stanford professor Christin stated. This includes launching a podcast, organizing gatherings, or writing a newsletter. Instead of producing content for their audiences, some people are turning to user-generated content creation for businesses as the professional path becomes increasingly unattainable. "Big surge in UGC creators," as Broome put it, has become more affordable for brands than traditional influencers. It's a terrific method for creators to get some cash, but it's not a good indicator if you aim to be in charge of your fan club. Furthermore, AI is about to pose a new danger to employment prospects.


Will AI Enjoy The Social Media Stardom? 
(Source: Google Images) 

Businesses have seized the opportunity with great haste. It was in the latter part of last year when Meta revealed "a universe of characters," powered by AI, that you could chat on Facebook and Instagram. "We've been creating AIs that have more personality, opinions, and interests, and are a bit more fun to interact with," the press release stated. The Clueless, an AI modeling agency, debuted with two models last year. "We did it so that we could make a better living and not be dependent on other people who have egos," the entrepreneur said to Euronews. With $4 million in funding, the AI-influencer startup 1337 came out of startup stealth status also in 2017. It has created dozens of AI beings, many of whom have elaborate backstories, specialized hobbies, and Spotify playlists of their own.

This influencing strategy is especially good for those who are interested in influencing but do not want to share their personal life with the public because it demands much less time from actual people. "For influencers, the long game is enabling more and more creators and brands to come in, create their entity, manage that entity, advocate for that entity, and evolve and grow them over time. Does it matter if an influencer is an AI character led by a human or a human employing AI tools? They are attempting to sell us something in either case. Being able to maintain a constant and interesting social media presence for companies at a reasonable price is a compelling sell, and several have already shown interest.

Does Humantouch Have a Superior Side To this Case? 

Authentic Content Vs AI-Driven ~
(Source: Google Images) 

Are AI influencers going to have any success earning an audience's trust? Authenticity is what social media users truly desire, according to the majority of marketing professionals. It's debatable how to define it, but an influencer created by AI will certainly cause some controversy. You probably wouldn't believe a computer cartoon advocating a new skincare product as much as you would a real influencer who said the product changed his or her life.

The Journal of Advertising published research in 2020 that concluded AI influencers "can produce positive brand benefits similar to those produced by human celebrity endorsers." However, it also discovered that the same reputational brand harm occurred when an AI influencer went awry. Additionally, there's a chance for financial loss: An AI chatbot for Air Canada misinformed a client earlier this year about a deal. A tribunal decided that the business had to give a refund since it was obligated by that. According to research published in the European Journal of Marketing, consumers were equally inclined to follow AI influencers as they were human influencers, but they had lower levels of trust in the former. But, they were more inclined to discuss the AI influencer with others, which may be advantageous for marketers.

Some analysts view things far more negatively: Last year, social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt, together with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, warned on the possibility of "skillful manipulation of people by AI super-influencers." They proposed that the ability of generative AI to be highly customized to each person's requirements, preferences, and interests would make this achievable. Artificial intelligence has also been used to produce deepfakes of influencers and celebrities that might harm their reputations. Marketers are already very interested in AI's potential to take advantage of cognitive biases in consumers. giving advertisers access to a highly specialized, enhanced version of the most successful human influencers!