The rise of AI-generated influencers on Instagram has become a major concern for real models and adult content creators who are seeing their content being stolen and monetized by these fake accounts. This practice, first reported by 404 Media in April, has since exploded in popularity, highlighting Instagram’s inability to stop the flood of AI-generated content on its platform. According to a review of over 1,000 AI-generated Instagram accounts, it is now easy to create and monetize these accounts using off-the-shelf AI tools and apps. This has led to a direct competition between human creators and AI-generated content, with many creators reporting a significant decrease in their reach and views. The director of the security, trust, and safety initiative at Cornell Tech, Alexios Mantzarlis, believes that this trend may be a sign of what social media will look like in the future, with a “rising blended unreality.” The impact of AI-generated content on social media and the internet as a whole is a growing concern, and it is important for platforms to address this issue and protect the creators who are being affected.
