This note is about AI, Meta, and influencers.
The story starts in 2023, when Meta announced 28 AI influencers. You can find the list here.
In summer 2024, Meta shut down all AI influencer profiles.
By December 2024, Meta’s Executive Director Connor Hayes announced that the company plans to develop its own AI characters and integrate them into the platform as real users.
Why Does Meta Need Its Own AI Influencers?
Meta’s team gave two clear reasons:
- To gather more data about users for better ad targeting.
- To test AI’s impact on users through content and chatbot interactions.
Why Did Meta Shut Down Most of the First AI Influencers?
- A Technical Glitch: Users couldn’t unfollow AI influencer accounts. The only fix was to block them. (Sure, let’s believe the official version 😉).
- Scandal Around One Profile: An influencer named Liv (a Black queer mother of two) sparked controversy because her team had no Black or queer members. After going viral, Meta quickly shut her account down.
- Main Reason (My Opinion): The results weren’t impressive.
The results were likely judged on:
- Engagement: The accounts were boring.
- Human-like Behavior: They didn’t feel real.
- Performance Metrics: Unclear, but probably underwhelming.
My Personal Experience with a Similar Project
Yes, I tried to compete with Meta (which, let’s be honest, failed in this experiment).
Last year, I ran 5 English-language channels with informational content. Here’s what I aimed for:
- Go Viral.
- Monetize through affiliates.
- Achieve at least 1% engagement.
Tools I Used:
- Video Generators
- Text-to-Speech Tools
- Avatars
- Script/Text Generation
Some videos did okay:
But overall, it was a failure in engagement, retention, and monetization. It took 5x more resources to get the same results as human-created content.
My Verdict
Think about the first cars on the market—expensive, hard to maintain, and unreliable compared to horses. That’s where AI-generated content is right now.
At this stage, AI media generation is frustrating for both creators and viewers.
But there’s hope! Some top AI tools show real potential:
- Sora (video generation)
- Kling (a Chinese tool with impressive results—follow their profile on X).
What’s Next?
For now, I’ve paused my AI content experiments.
My subscribers know I’ve shifted focus to intensive English practice. The content network is on hold, and I’ll revisit it in 6 months—a lot could change, hopefully for the better.
In the meantime, I’ll keep sharing weekly updates about tech companies with you. Stay tuned! 🚀
