Influencers Are Replacing Themselves With AI Clones
Anthropic girlypop dinners, new Costco Guys, BuzzBallz summer, Gen Z's silent scream, FBI aura farming, Elon Musk's TikTok, Mahjong mania, SantaCon fraud, andthe case against social media "addiction"
AI-generated “digital twins” of content creators and celebrities are popping up all over the place, and managing this revolution is a major priority for talent agencies like CAA. But will audiences truly respond to a digital facsimile of the star they think they know and love?
I investigated this question for a story in Vanity Fair. I dug into the rise of AI digital clones and how more influencers and celebrities are seeking to scale their digital likenesses. You can read the full story here! One quote that really stuck with me:
Robert Freund, an attorney in California who works with content creators and talent agencies, said that influencers may be a canary in the coal mine for problems that all of us might soon face with the rise of this tech.
“The typical person does not want to see their face on billboards without their consent,” he said, “and that’s effectively what can happen if you sign up for one of these AI platforms without understanding what you’re doing.”
Inside Iran’s Gen Z Meme Army
We are living in an era where global internet culture and meme warfare are even more influential than the mainstream media, and LEGOs are being used to create the most effective messaging around the US-Iran war.
I sat down with Areeba Fatima, a journalist for Dropsite News, who’s been reporting on the team behind “Explosive Media,” the group of seemingly Gen Z Iranians producing this viral content. Areeba got inside access to the Explosive Media Telegram channel, and was able to reveal clues about the identities of the young content creators producing these videos.
We dive deep into how these LEGO videos are actively reshaping Americans’ perceptions of modern warfare, and why this content is uniquely bridging the gap across the American political spectrum. [WATCH]