The Rise of AI Persons in Marketing: Are Virtual Influencers Here to Stay?

Marketing has seen a tectonic upheaval in recent years.  The transition from traditional media buys to influencer campaigns and user-generated content storytelling has been fast.  However, the most profound revolution may still be underway: the advent of AI-generated people—or virtual influencers—created solely by artificial intelligence.

These hyper-realistic digital identities, which are frequently indistinguishable from actual persons in photographs or video, are not only enthralling worldwide audiences, but also altering how organizations approach engagement, trust, and storytelling in the digital era.  So, what exactly are AI professionals, and how are they altering the marketing landscape?

What Are AI Persons?

An AI person is a digital human created with artificial intelligence tools.  These can range from simple photos to animated avatars that can speak, move, and portray emotions. Unlike traditional influencers, who grow their followings over time through personal branding, AI people are constructed with a specific purpose in mind—from the ground up—and can be instantaneously integrated into content communities.

Brands may now create personalized digital persons matched to specific demographics, style aesthetics, or brand values using tools such as the AI person generator.  These virtual influencers do not sleep, age, get canceled, or make PR mistakes.  They are scalable, brand-aligned, and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, making them an increasingly valuable marketing asset.

The Importance of Virtual Influencers  

Brands are collaborating with virtual influencers such as Lil Miquela, Imma, and Knox Frost, who are AI-generated and have millions of followers. These digital stars post lifestyle content, promote items, and engage with marketers in much the same way that human influencers do—but with far greater control and consistency.

Key advantages of AI professionals in marketing:

  • Creative Control: Each post, reaction, and statement is scripted and brand-approved.
  • Cost-effective: No travel, makeup, or reshoots required.
  • Scalability: Avatars may be easily repurposed between languages, campaigns and media.
  • Global Reach: AI individuals can communicate in numerous languages, appeal to diverse cultures, and project a consistent image around the world.

These benefits are now being augmented by ai person generators, which allow even smaller organizations to design and deploy bespoke digital humans without hiring large creative teams or actors.

Creating AI Persons: The Rise of the AI Person Generator

Traditionally, creating a CGI influencer required significant resources—designers, animators, voice artists, and post-production teams. But now, ai person generator platforms are democratizing access to digital personas.

These tools enable users to:

  • Choose facial features, skin tones, clothing styles, and expressions
  • Add pre-trained voices or clone voices using TTS (Text-to-Speech)
  • Animate facial expressions and lip-sync to custom scripts
  • Export the finished digital human for use in ads, social media, or customer service

Platforms like Synthesia, Reface Studio, and others have already made this tech accessible. And with Invideo AI, you can go a step further by integrating these AI personas directly into high-quality video content using text prompts—no need for a camera crew or editing software.

Real-World Applications of AI in Marketing: Product Launches

Launch a new sneaker collection featuring a simulated model performing parkour on city rooftops—no stunt team required.

Customer Service Content

Create friendly AI avatars to teach how to use your platform or resolve common issues in how-to videos.

Personalized Ads

Use AI generated video content to address people by name or area, making each message feel extremely relevant.

Diversity of Branding

Represent diverse ethnicities, genders, and age groups without requiring a large casting expenditure.  AI avatars enable precise and inclusive marketing.

Event Hosting or Virtual Spokespersons

Show a branded avatar hosting a virtual product demo, emceeing a webinar, or wandering around a digital event booth.

Concerns Over AI Persons and Authenticity

Of course, not all feedback has been positive.  Critics believe that virtual influencers lack authenticity, which is vital for gaining audience trust.  Many consumers continue to choose to follow influencers whose lives, experiences, and viewpoints appear “real.”

Major considerations include:

  • Ethical transparency: Should AI identities be openly identified as virtual?
  • Emotional Authenticity: Can a virtual influencer truly “connect” with their audience?
  • Deepfake Misuse: The same technology that powers artificial intelligence may be used maliciously.
  • Job Displacement: Will AI avatars replace performers, voiceover artists, and models?

These are not small issues.  However, rather than forsaking technology entirely, the solution is to promote openness, ethical standards, and thoughtful use cases.

Why Brands Still Embrace AI Persons

Despite misgivings, the enthusiasm behind AI individuals is growing.  They provide unparalleled flexibility and efficiency to brands under pressure to produce more content at reduced costs.

  • Key motivations for adoption include consistency across campaigns.
  • Brand-owned assets (without contracts or rights concerns)
  • Ability to regulate narrative and audience interaction.
  • Customization and Scalability for Segmented Audiences

In fact, we are likely to see a future in which AI influencers supplement, rather than replace, human ones.  Brands may utilize both, based on their campaign objectives, audience preferences, and storytelling requirements.

What The Future Holds

As AI technologies get more sophisticated, so will AI individuals.  Expect advancements like these:

  • Real-time audience participation (live Q&A with AI avatars)
  • Emotionally responsive avatars with adaptable tone and expressions
  • Integrated with AR/VR for immersive experiences.
  • Use in influencer commerce (real-time product recommendations by AI avatars).

The question is not if AI will be used in marketing, but rather how well they are incorporated into authentic, audience-first storylines.

Final Thoughts

The age of AI is only beginning, and they are ready to revolutionize the marketing landscape.  Whether it’s a polished AI-generated film, a virtual influencer on Instagram, or an AI-powered video explanation, these synthetic humans can help brands accomplish more with less.

Marketers have never had more creative freedom, thanks to technologies like Invideo AI that enable this movement, particularly by easing the process of mixing AI person generation tools with professional video output.

As we move forward, the challenge will be to not just effectively employ AI personnel, but also to do so in a way that is human, transparent, and values-driven.  Because, no matter how realistic they become, true narrative is the foundation of effective marketing.