Unpacking the Uncanny, Dystopian World of AI Content Creators
In Homer’s Iliad, a poem written almost 3,000 years ago, the metalsmithing god Hephaestus, seriously injured after being exiled from Mt. Olympus, uses his power to create ‘Golden Maidens’ to help him around his workshop. These living machines allow him to continue to work and overcome his physical challenges. “In their hearts there is intelligence,” Homer describes, “and they have voice and vigour, and from the immortal gods they have learned skills.”
In The Jetsons, the ‘60s cartoon about a sci-fi family, nearly every mundane household task is automated by robots and computers, from their autonomous vacuum to their marvellous meal-making machine—technology in service of humans, leaving the family free to enjoy their lives to the fullest. In Pixar’s 2008 film WALL-E, intelligent, emotional robots tirelessly work to clean up the mess humanity has left on Earth, even long after they have left the planet.
What do these beloved pieces of fiction share in common, despite decades and even millennia between them? A utopian vision of the future—one where humanity creates an entirely new form of ‘life’ to serve us: Artificial intelligence.
In the last two decades, massive technological leaps in computers and algorithms have transformed artificial intelligence from a science fiction plot device to a very real presence in our daily lives. The early stages were an exciting time. This life-changing, miraculous technology was almost here, and soon, AI would be ready to handle life’s most boring, mundane, and dangerous tasks, leaving us humans free to create, chase our passions, and connect with one another.
…Right?
The State of AI in 2025
Odds are, you’ve already noticed some of the ways AI is creeping into our lives. Your Instagram search bar recently became a hotline to a subpar Meta AI chatbot. Every Google search you make now spits out an AI-generated blurb attempting to answer your question. The latest iPhone is completely designed around AI, even summarizing your notifications so you never have to read a message from a friend again!
Whether you like it or not, all of us (except the most die-hard of Luddites) are interacting with artificial intelligence on a daily basis. We live in the future, in an information age where computers make our lives easier with complex, personalized responses to anything we could think to ask. It should feel like a utopia. So why doesn’t it?
To explain the state of AI in 2025 and to look at the troubling implications it’s beginning to have on humanity, we want to take a look at one of its newest and most controversial subgenres: AI social media creators. Read on as we explore the strange, uncanny, and sometimes unsettling world of artificial influencers and online personalities. We’ll be connecting all of this back to what we believe is the biggest problem with AI: The way we’re trying to implement it into our world.
Wait, AI Content Creators?
Yep, you read that right! For those not in the know, there’s been a rising trend of AI content creators. These are seemingly normal profiles on Instagram or TikTok, with pictures and videos of seemingly normal humans. But take a closer look! These creators aren’t real people at all—they’re AI.
So far, there are two main kinds of AI creators. There’s what you might think of first, which is an account run by a regular human being but using strictly AI-generated content. This means all images, videos, and text are written by AI, but a human is still responsible for tweaking, generating, and uploading everything. At the moment, this is how most ‘AI creators’ work. Increasingly, though, there is a new level of automation on the horizon, with AI actually running its own account. They generate pictures and videos, write their captions, and post them on their own. Many of them will analyze their page analytics to help tweak their strategy, post on their story, and even reply to DMs from human followers. We haven’t seen this fully take off yet, but we’re expecting it to become more common as AI gets more advanced.
If all this is breaking your brain a little, let’s take a look at an example. Lu do Magalu was ‘born’ in 2003 as a virtual assistant for the Brazilian retail company Magazine Luiza. As technology improved, she became the artificial face of the company and is now the most followed AI creator on Instagram. Lu advertises on her page, unboxes products, and collaborates with human creators. She’s appeared on reality shows, partnered with some of the world’s biggest brands, and even appeared on the cover of an issue of Vogue Brazil.
Now, Lu is controlled by the company that made her, and they no doubt tweak the parameters of her AI to make sure she doesn’t go haywire. Details on how these creators work under the hood are often secretive, so it’s hard to know where human intervention ends and artificial intelligence begins. But all the same, she posts selfies, replies to comments, and shares pictures of outdoor views as though she’s out enjoying the day. And guess what? People love it. With more than 30 million followers across platforms, she’s one of the most successful influencers, period, and has been consistently ranked as a top virtual influencer over the likes of Barbie and Minnie Mouse.
So that should settle it, right? When done correctly, an AI creator can make a big impact, connect with people, and create a spike in your brand’s popularity online, right? Well, there’s a bit more to it than that.
The Backlash
Many of the unicorns on the BNL team live/have lived in beautiful Kelowna, BC. This area is a hotspot for outdoor activities, vibrant local businesses, and some seriously exceptional wine. Because of this, there are many local influencers who make it their business to show off what Kelowna has to offer.
In March 2025, local news outlet KelownaNow announced their partnership with an influencer, @elleinkelowna. Elle introduced herself via a collab post, describing herself as “Your new digital insider, here to keep you connected, inspired, and in the know.” She’s a Kelowna local, someone who loves the city and wants to “champion local entrepreneurs, uncover hidden gems, and share can’t-miss events.” The only trouble? Rather than partnering with one of the many talented Kelowna influencers already working in the area, KelownaNow decided to work with Elle, who happens to be an AI creator.
The backlash on this first post was palpable. One local photographer and content creator wrote: “Truly disappointing to see use of AI over any local. It is an interesting approach being this is a young, white, blonde, thin woman to highlight what our diverse city has to offer. There are SO many rad creators in Kelowna - happy to send a list to help realign whatever you’re trying to do here.”
An Okanagan Guide influencer wrote, “Hi, I'm a human content creator showcasing local businesses, events, and things to do in Kelowna. This post makes me sad.”
Others were more succinct: “Sending hate from Kelowna,” said one person.
“But why?” asked another.
Though some people seemed intrigued and excited by the idea, the majority of commenters shamed KelownaNow for cutting out real locals doing this exact thing in favour of an AI. It hasn’t seemed to deter them, though, as Elle has continued to post, shouting out local businesses and promoting upcoming events, ignoring the haters at every step of the way. In the process, we expect media outlets like KelownaNow to generate revenue through brand placement, which is helped by the fact that they don’t have to compensate Elle whatsoever.
This isn’t the only example of backlash against AI creators. In December 2024, Instagram and Facebook owner Meta announced they would introduce millions of AI profiles onto their platforms, allowing them to pose as regular users. The big controversy came when they unveiled “Liv”, a Meta-managed AI who identified as a “Proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth teller.” When it was revealed that no Black creators had any part in her design, the backlash began.
Meta quietly withdrew Liv from the limelight, but they haven’t stopped implementing these AI profiles on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Now, you can access them through the AI Studio, which allows you to create, manage, and converse with AI characters just as you would your human friends.
If Meta is continuing this project despite all the controversy, it means it’s not going away anytime soon. In fact, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg himself said that “in the future, a lot of [your social media feed] is going to be AI generated.” So, what exactly is the takeaway here? Are AI creators the future? Are influencers about to get automated out of a job?
Our Take on AI Creators
We know the conversation about the ethics and merits of AI is heating up. Many people feel very strongly about this issue, and the divide between these camps only seems to grow with time. The views in this article are just that—views. These are our opinions, informed by years of experience working in online spaces. So, where does this BNL unicorn stand on this hot-button issue?
Simply put, there is something fundamentally wrong with the way AI is being incorporated into our lives today. Rather than using it as a tool to free ourselves from the shackles of the daily grind, it’s being used to replace many of the fundamental parts of being human.
Look at this Tweet, now memed to oblivion, by X user @KrishRShah, who used OpenAI’s new image-generation tool to recreate a picture of his friends in the anime style of Studio Ghibli. “Art just became accessible,” he says.
In truth, art was always accessible. Krish just didn’t want to put in the time to learn to make art he was proud of. And now, thanks to AI, he’ll never have to. But while the end product might be more or less the same, Krish’s post misses the main point of art: The experience of making it.
The same argument applies to AI creators. Social media was designed for us to connect with one another. To share bits and pieces of our lives, stay in touch, and expand our community across the globe in ways never before possible. But as attention on social media becomes more of a commodity, brands are constantly searching for new ways to capitalize on it.
It began with branded accounts and sponsored posts. Then, companies started paying influencers for overt promotion. Then, shady brand deals made it harder to trust the integrity of the creators we followed, and now, brands are doing away with human influencers entirely, apparently hoping that we’ll see these AI creators just like any other account online.
And truthfully? It’s getting easier to do it. The images are getting more realistic. The videos more lifelike. The captions more natural and human-sounding. But if you ask us, there’s still something missing: The experience of connecting with another person.
The Future of AI Creation
When we discussed AI in marketing this time last year, we knew that the only thing we could expect from artificial intelligence was the unexpected. Personally, we never could have foreseen the way AI has entered the creative sphere so completely. It’s 2025! Why hire an illustrator? Midjourney can bang out twelve versions in the time it takes to sip your matcha. Why shell out for a writer? ChatGPT can work circles around even the quickest ones. Now, why run your own social media account? A robot can do it in half the time—and it won’t get burnt out when a post doesn’t perform.
In our effort to make our utopian visions of the future a reality, we’ve opened a Pandora’s Box. Digital creation is rapidly becoming the new norm, and the rising advent of AI influencers and creators is just another example of the way we have misunderstood the role AI should play in our lives.
The initial vision of artificial intelligence explored in the Iliad, The Jetsons, and WALL-E has failed to materialize. Rather than letting this tool mop our metaphorical floors, we’ve allowed it to build the whole home and called ourselves the architects. And as we become desensitized to interacting with these artificial ‘personalities,’ we subconsciously accept that less and less of our world will be human.
Already, human creatives are repositioning themselves as boutique specialists offering a luxury service, searching for any niche that will give them a foothold in an evaporating field. Writers, painters, designers, and now social media influencers are suddenly locked in a race against virtual entities that seldom slow down or make mistakes. Does that make AI evil? No. But it shows that in humanity’s effort to have easy, convenient lives, we’re beginning to lose something that makes us human.
We know there’s nothing we can say that will stop this tide of change. AI is here to stay, and that’s not all bad. It’s revolutionizing scientific research, curing diseases, helping with big data analysis, and more, propelling our species into an even more unbelievable future.
One day, the novelty of AI in creative spaces will begin to wear off, and it will become another fact of life, like taxes or Microsoft Excel. And when it does, we hope we can look at our world with clear eyes and realize that when it comes to artistry, creativity, and connection, maybe we don’t need a computer to do everything for us.
(NOTE: This post was entirely written by a real, live, human being, our amazing Lead Copywriter, Lyle. If that’s something that’s important to you, and you’re looking for real, live, human help with your social media, you’ll love working with the team at BNL. Book a discovery call today to learn how a human approach can help you grow your brand online!)