Advancements in AI tech have given birth to an industry of AI influencers, and major companies are beginning to show interest in their far more cost-effective approach to marketing. AdvertisementMiquela's success didn't spark a virtual-influencer revolution, but that was largely because of cost — human influencers were still cheaper. She sees AI influencers being used to provide a deep level of information, support, and guidance on brands and products. Do AI influencers really stand a chance at building trust with an audience? A study in the European Journal of Marketing found that consumers were just as likely to follow an AI influencer as a human influencer but that they didn't trust the AI influencer as much.

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Persons: Zers, Gen Z, influencers, wannabes, — they're, Nikita Baklanov, Julia Broome, Baklanov, Broome, she'd, it's, Miquela Sousa, Lil Miquela, Instagram Miquela, Calvin Klein, Imma, HypeAuditor, Euronews, who's, Jenny Dearing, Dearing, ChatGPT, chatbot, Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Haidt Organizations: Stanford, UGC, Prada, Companies, Meta, Instagram, AIs, Oxford, Advertising, Air, European, Marketing, Air Canada, Google, Alpha Locations: strategize, TikTok, Antarctica, Air Canada