Conversations about AI in influencer marketing centre heavily around managing workflows and increasing post frequency. But as the creator economy evolves interest is increasing in AI-generated influencers.
AI influencers have technically been around for around a decade, with one of the most popular, Lil Miquela, making her Instagram debut in 2016. Another, Mia Zelu, went viral after appearing courtside at Wimbledon in 2025. Over the past decade, brands have been more open to the idea of partnering with AI influencers and have seen success.
Working with AI influencer agency Pixel.ai, car brand Hyundai worked with Kenza Layli for the launch of the Hyundai Kona in Morocco. The influencer was used in a YouTube advert, social posts and as a chatbot engaging with potential customers in up to eight different languages.
For Hyundai the campaign generated 20x ROI, with over 2,000 chatbot conversations running concurrently and was deemed the most successful influencer product launch for the brand to date.
AI talent gives the brand full control, tailored messaging, less reputational risk.
Lewis Davey, Pixel.ai
Consumer interest in AI influencers is growing. At the end of last year, the influencer agency Billion Dollar Boy found 76% of consumers trust virtual influencers to inform product recommendations, with 68% letting them inform purchase decisions.
Additionally, the agency found 77% of marketers plan to invest a greater proportion of their advertising budgets from other marketing channels into AI-generated creator content, up from 65% in 2023.
According to the research, 62% of creators are concerned about increased competition as a result of virtual influencers, with 59% concerned virtual creators saturate consumers’ feeds.
Lewis Davey, co-founder of Pixel.ai, explains it “still requires an insight driven idea to create a successful AI influencer campaign”.
Twelve to 18 months ago, Davey explains there was an “initial wave” of brands rushing to use AI influencers “without thinking”, whereas now many are developing “a more well thought through strategy” on how an AI influencers, whether that’s through posts or a chatbot. Going forward, he feels AI creators have the potential to solve “business challenges”, rather than just being used for “nice content”.
“We’re seeing a willingness among marketers to test this channel more this year,” says Davey.
He insists AI influencers won’t replace real influencers, but believes they have the ability to create a “really interesting new outlet” for brands.
“AI talent gives the brand full control, tailored messaging, less reputational risk,” Davey adds.
A hybrid approach
Other brands to have seen success with AI influencers include L’Oréal, who used influencer Kyra. Some 90% of her audience is aged 18 to 30 with an average engagement rate of 5%. From three posts, the brand generated 100 million views.
H&M also worked with virtual influencer Kuki to promote its ‘Innovation Metaverse Design Story’ collection in the US and saw an 11x increase in ad recall with a mix of virtual influencer and campaign video, compared to ads with campaign video only.
Additionally, WooHoo restaurant in Dubai, which Davey calls Dubai’s “first AI themed restaurant”, used Aitana López for a New Year’s Eve collaboration on Instagram, which saw more than 105,000 total views, a total reach of 46,000, and 1,300 plus engagements.
Gökhan Girmez, chief brand officer at WooHoo-owner Gastronaut Hospitality, says AI influencers are a “natural extension” of the brand’s DNA. He claims they also have an ‘AI chef’, Aiman, which is a “key AI influencer” for the brand and kicked off the brand’s journey in the space.
“Through Aiman, we began our AI influencer marketing journey organically, storytelling-first rather than campaign-led,” says Girmez.
He claims AI influencers allow the brand to be “globally relevant without being limited by geography, availability or traditional formats”. The WooHoo team primarily works with AI influencers on Instagram and TikTok. The content is focused on “immersive storytelling”, teaser content, “futuristic visuals” and narrative-driven launches designed to “blur the line” between technology, dining and culture.
Effectiveness is measured by engagement rate, reach, saves, shares, video completion rates, click-throughs, and sentiment analysis, as well as brand recall, press coverage, earned media and organic conversations generated around AI-led content.
“AI-driven campaigns have consistently outperformed traditional static content,” says Girmez.
He also recognises the benefits AI influencers bring, including the brand having full creative control in line with their positioning, scalability and no logistical limitations.
AI represents the mind of the brand, while real people represent the soul of the experience. Together, they create a powerful and credible ecosystem.
Gökhan Girmez, Gastronaut Hospitality
Contractually, Girmez explains AI influencers “function more like licensed digital IPs rather than individuals” for the brand.
“In many cases, this makes them more cost-efficient long-term, especially when considering scalability, content reuse and the absence of recurring appearance fees. That said, high-quality AI talent still requires meaningful investment in creative development and technology,” he adds.
Beyond the successful Aitana López collaboration, working with AI influencers has driven 2-3x higher engagement rates compared to standard branded content for WooHoo, as well as stronger video completion rates, particularly on reels and short-form storytelling.
Yet Girmez notes AI influencers still need “strong storytelling to create emotional connection”, explaining the future of the brand is “hybrid” spanning AI and ‘real-life’ creators.
“At WooHoo, AI represents the mind of the brand, while real people represent the soul of the experience. Together, they create a powerful and credible ecosystem,” he adds.
Digital twin trust
Alongside AI influencers, digital twins are growing in prominence within the creator economy. McKinsey predicts the global market for digital twin tech will grow by about 60% annually over the next five years, reaching a value of $73.5bn (£54.3bn) by 2027.
IMTB director-general Scott Guthrie previously told Marketing Week the use of AI creators is on the rise, with “Meta and TikTok pushing it”. In China, for example, influencers run constant livestreams and switch to their “digital doppelganger” at night to create more money.
Billon Dollar Boy’s research found 85% of creators are open to creating a digital twin with a brand for marketing purposes, helping to increase revenue streams and alleviate workload.
Pixelz is a digital twin agency, working mainly within fashion brands and retailers, which creates one-to-one replicas of real life models, often for ecommerce and lookbooks. CMO Katrine Rasmussen says digital twins give brands “peace of mind”, as they’re not using a 100% AI-generated figure, as well as offering “efficiency” and cost-savings.
For the brands working with Pixelz, effectiveness is measured though ecommerce conversion rates on websites and how AI generated content impacts sales, with video content found to increase conversion rates. Overall, “adding more content” is seen to increase conversion rates, with the team due to launch a tool turning images to videos for brands.
Taking into account developments with both AI influencers and digital twins, media lawyer Kelsey Farrant – who specialises in AI – says the legal industry is struggling to keep up, but is “slowly but surely” getting there.
“The problem is the industry has no idea what it’s doing. So how can the lawmakers know what they’re doing?” questions Farrant.
“I like to think of AI as like a prism. When you shine a torch on it, the colour refracts the whole rainbow. It’s not just copyright. It’s privacy, it’s reputation, it’s brand.”
With digital twins in particular, there are grey areas as deepfake laws don’t apply. For example, if someone alters a video to show a digital twin committing a crime “existing laws will be used to address the specific harm”, such as the theft act.
Farrant feels brands shouldn’t feel forced to use AI, but should be clear on what their company stance on using it is for transparency. Transparency is still a key issue, as Billion Dollar Boy finds only 31% of consumers are in favour of creators and brands partnering to make digital twins, while 57% believe digital twins erode trust in creator content.
The problem is the industry has now idea what it’s doing. So how can the lawmakers know what they’re doing?
Kelsey Farrant
Rasmussen says lots of brands feel dabbling into digital twins is like “the wild wild west” due to a lack of regulation and lawmakers are “falling behind” when it comes to AI. She hopes AI legislation rolling out in the EU should clear up uncertainty in Europe.
H&M has partnered with 30 models to create AI-generated digital twins and it allowed the models to retain ownership of the avatars and license them to other brands.
Davey feels content where labels are put on as a disclaimer to show the work is AI generated lands better with consumers. Going forward, he sees the UAE being at the “forefront” of AI strategy and innovation, with Pixel.ai currently in the process of launching in Dubai. He claims “brands are a lot more responsive” to AI there.
Always on
Looking ahead, Davey sees brands not just working with AI influencers, but using an “AI ambassador” as the always on face of the brand.
“I really do predict that a huge number of brands will own their own AI ambassador virtual talent by 2030,” he claims.
Like Girmez, he also feels there will be a “blending of worlds”, with real-life and AI influencers collaborating on content. According to Rasmussen, the rise of AI influencers doesn’t necessarily equate to job losses.
“Jobs are evolving. It’s not like AI campaigns are easy, simple, fast. It’s not like you just sit down and prompt. There are actually a lot of really talented people involved. At this point, it’s not cheaper, it’s not faster. And you still need people who know exactly what they’re doing,” she says.
I really do predict that a huge number of brands will own their own AI ambassador virtual talent by 2030.
Lewis Davey, Pixel.ai
Aitana López was created by The Clueless agency in Barcelona and is run by a team of around 10 people.
The Clueless founders Rubén Cruz and Diana Núñez feel digital identities could become “strategic assets for brands rather than just a passing trend”, but their biggest challenge lies in public perception and educating the market on how to use the tech responsibly.
The founders say the creation of an AI influencer “combines creative direction, design, technology and strategy”, with factors such as personality and tone of voice defined before the image is generated.
“In terms of ethics, we operate with transparency, clearly stating that these are digital identities, avoiding impersonation and establishing clear limits in body representation, diversity and messaging,” Cruz and Núñez claim.
Some identities are made for specific sectors or brands, where the “construction is far more strategic and aligned with its values and positioning”. Cruz and Núñez feel Aitana López connects strongly with audiences – especially her 393,000 Instagram followers – and is perceived “as a character with narrative, aspirations and contradictions”.
“Audiences connect with coherent stories, refined aesthetics and a defined personality. The key is not that she is AI – it’s that she has identity,” they explain.
The founders say, generally, fees for AI influencers are comparable to, or higher than, human influencers with a similar profile, especially for strategic projects or ambassador roles. Brands come to The Clueless for both short and long-term work, and the team are seeing an increase in long-term agreements where the influencer becomes a digital ambassador.
Going forward, Cruz and Núñez agree AI influencer marketing will continue to evolve toward hybrid models and explain the agency is seeing significant growth in sectors such as fashion, beauty, technology, gaming and entertainment.
“Digital influencers will become long-term strategic assets, not just campaign tools. Currently, we are developing proprietary technology, expanding our ecosystem of digital identities and building tools that allow us to scale personalisation and visual quality within creative environments,” the duo add.
Marketing Week will continue to explore the creator economy in future articles in our Influencers Explored series.