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Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.

How Fake AI Influencers Generate Real Cash

From deepfakes to affiliate links, producers of AI influencers are finding ways to make money even if brands aren’t interested in working with them.
AI influencers promoting beauty products can be found across social platforms, often with affiliate links to generate revenue.
AI influencers promoting beauty products can be found across social platforms, often with affiliate links to generate revenue. (TikTok/Instagram)

Beauty and fashion influencer Eni Popoola first learned she’d been deepfaked the way many creators do: from her audience. A YouTube ad sent by a follower featured her face and her voice, promoting an online course she had never heard of.

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Further Reading

H&M Knows Its AI Models Will Be Controversial

The company expects public opinion to be divided on its plan to use “digital twins” of real models in AI-generated imagery. But the best way to protect models’ jobs and rights in the age of AI, it says, is to bring them into the process.

How Brands Are Navigating the AI Ad Dilemma

While some fashion labels are starting to experiment with using AI-generated imagery in campaigns, others are taking a firm stance against it. Both approaches reveal how brands are evolving their creative identities and who they are trying to reach.

About the author
Liz Flora
Liz Flora

Liz Flora is a Beauty Correspondent at Business of Fashion. She is based in Los Angeles and covers beauty and wellness.

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