The impact of AI influencers on society in the UK through the use of social media

The impact of AI influencers on society in the UK through the use of social media

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Real or virtual ?

Chiara Meyer

Introduction

What is beautiful?

To what extent do AI influencers impact societal perceptions of beauty in the UK ?

https://theglobalfilipinomagazine.com

https://www.vogue.com.au

Shudu Gram

• One of the top AI influencers on Instagram with more than 240K followers
• Debuted on April, 22nd 2017
• Created by British fashion photographer Cameron James Wilson, CEO of the Diigitals, the first all digital modeling agency

• Featured in various campaigns for brands like BMW, Louis Vuitton and Balmain.

https://www.virtualhumans.org

https://metaversefashioncouncil.org

I. The place of AI influencers in social media and what they promote

Ethical Considerations

Tools and Mechanisms of influence

Representation and Promotion

• Created using advanced AI algorithms

• Rooted in the advancements of generative adversarial networks = type of machine learning model consisting of two neural networks: a generator and a discriminator

• Only 5% of surveyed UK adukts are aware that they are following a virtual influencer on social media according to thirdcity.co.uk

Broader Cultural and Societal implications

" It's meant to be beautiful art which empowers people. It's not trying to take away an opportunity from anyone or replace anyone."

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68347250

" You don't have to travel, you don't have to do the airport runs, you don't have to do anything."

Future developments

https://www.virtualhumans.org

" As AI algorithms become more and more sophisticated and capable of understanding human emotions and preferences, we can expect to see even more immersive and engaging virtual influencers."

AI supermodel Brenn created in 2018

Experts from: autogpt.net

https://www.virtualhumans.org

II. The impact of AI influencers on aesthetic norms and beauty standards

Idealized Appearances

" In a world saturated with digital perfection, these images form a new benchmark for beauty, one that leaves no room for imperfection."

Anna Laszkiewicz from: Silesian University of Technology Publishing House

The YouGov Body Image Study

Body Image issues

Mental Health Impacts

" Young women who are frequently exposed to social media influencers tend to internalize beauty standards that lead to body dissatisfaction."

Report from the UK Parliament

Dr Kumar and Professor Jaiswal from: researchgate.net

Tension between Human and AI influencers

" Brands like Mango have embraced this technology, producing faster campaigns without involving real people. While innovative, these campaigns perpetuate unrealistic beauty standards and prioritize profit over authenticity."

Citlalli Esquivel from: houseofsolo.co.uk

III. A project challenging but rewarding

Industrial and Professional sources

[6] The Diigitals. “The world’s first all digital modeling agency”,The Diigitals About. Created in2017. Accessed on October 26th, 2024.https://www.thediigitals.com/about Pause Assessment: Purpose: 1. Yes 2. No Accuracy: 3. Yes 4. Yes Up-to-date: 5. Yes Suitable: 6. Yes 7. Yes Expertise: 8. Unsure 9. Unsure 10. Yes The majority of my responses were Yes. The source is credible and appropriate (but might be biased).

[5]Milan Dinic. “The media, fashion companies and the pressure of having a perfect body”, yougov, August 5th 2021. Accessed on September 24th, 2024. https://yougov.co.uk/health/articles/35835-media-fashion-companies-and-pressure-having-p erfec?redirect_from=%2Ftopics%2Fhealth%2Farticles-reports%2F2021%2F08%2F05%2Fm edia-fashion-companies-and-pressure-having-perfec Pause Assessment: Purpose: 1. Yes 2. Yes Accuracy: 3. Yes 4. Yes Up-to-date: 5. Yes Suitable: 6. Yes 7. Yes Expertise: 8. Unsure 9. Unsure 10. Yes The majority of my responses were Yes. The resource is credible and appropriate.

[8]Third city’s author, Mark Lowe. “Marketing or an Ethical Risk?”, Third city, Published on March 26th 2025. Accessed on April 30th 2025. https://thirdcity.co.uk/ai-influencers-the-future-of-marketing-or-an-ethical-risk/ Pause Assessment: Purpose: 1. Yes 2. Yes Accuracy: 3. Yes 4. Yes Up-to-date: 5. Yes Suitable: 6. Yes 7. Yes Expertise: 8. Yes 9. Yes 10. Unsure The majority of my responses were Yes. The resource is credible and appropriate.

[7]Shahnaz Ahmed. “The impact and ethics of AI influencers: navigating the new virtuallandscape for genuine humans and brands”, The social element, December, 6th, 2023, accessed on March 10th 2025. https://thesocialelement.agency/the-impact-and-ethics-of-ai-influencers-navigating-the-new-virtual-landscape-for-genuine-humans-and-brands Pause Assessment: Purpose: 1. Yes 2. Yes Accuracy: 3. No 4. Unsure Up-to-date: 5. Yes Suitable: 6. Yes 7. Yes Expertise: 8. Yes 9. Yes 10. Unsure The majority of my responses were Yes. The resource is credible and appropriate.

[9]Astrid Hiort. “Why Diversity and Inclusivity in Virtual Influencers Matter”, Virtual Humans,published on January 4th, 2022. Accessed on October, 26th, 2024. https://www.virtualhumans.org/article/why-diversity-and-inclusivity-in-virtual-influencers-matter Pause Assessment: Purpose: 1. Yes 2. Yes Accuracy: 3. No 4. No Up-to-date: 5. Yes Suitable: 6. Yes 7. Yes Expertise: 8. Yes 9. Yes 10. Yes The majority of my responses were Yes. The resource is credible and appropriate.

III. A project challenging but rewarding

Popular and News media sources (cross-reference)

[10]Sam Gruet. “My AI twin may get me more modeling work”, BBC News, March, 7th 2024. Accessed on September 24th, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68347250 CRAAP test: Currency: 3 Relevance: 2 Authority: 3 Accuracy: 2 Purpose: 1 TOTAL: 11 BBC is a respected news organization. good source for academic work but confirm information with other sources

[11]Jenna Rosenstein. “People Can't Tell If This Fenty Model Is Real Or Fake”, Harper's Bazaar, published on February 9th, 2018. Accessed on October 26th 2024. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/makeup/a16810663/shudu-gram-fenty-model-fake/ Pause Assessment: Purpose: 1. Yes 2. Yes Accuracy: 3. No 4. No Up-to-date: 5. No Suitable: 6. Unsure 7. Yes Expertise: 8. Yes 9. Yes 10. Yes The majority of my responses were Yes. The source is credible and appropriate but cross reference.

[12]Onome. “The rise of AI Influencers: Exploring the future of social media”, Autogpt by mindstream, April 28th, 2024. Accessed on October 11th 2024. https://autogpt.net/the-rise-of-ai-influencers-exploring-the-future-of-social-media/ Pause Assessment: Purpose: 1. Yes 2. Unsure Accuracy: 3. No 4. No Up-to-date: 5. Yes Suitable: 6. Unsure 7. Yes Expertise: 8. Yes 9. Yes 10. No The majority of my responses were Yes. The resource is credible and appropriate but cross-reference.

[13]Citlalli Esquivel. “Influencers and AI: The new impossible Beauty Standards” House of Solo, published on February 7th 2025, accessed on March, 10th 2025. https://www.houseofsolo.co.uk/influencers-and-ai/ Pause Assessment: Purpose: 1. Yes 2. Yes Accuracy: 3. No 4. Unsure Up-to-date: 5. Yes Suitable: 6. Yes 7. Yes Expertise: 8. No 9. Unsure 10. Yes The majority of my responses were Yes. The resource is credible and appropriate but cross reference.

III. A project challenging but rewarding

Institutional, Academic and Peer-reviewed sources

[1]The Women and Equalities Committee ( House of Commons ). “Body image survey results”, UK Parliament, September 23rd 2020. Accessed on September 24th, 2024. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5801/cmselect/cmwomeq/805/80502.htm CRAAP test: Currency: 2 Relevance: 3 Authority: 3 Accuracy: 3 Purpose: 3 TOTAL: 14 excellent source for academic work

[2]Anna Laszkiewicz. “Artificial intelligence (AI) influencers in influencer marketing”, Silesian University of Technology Publishing House , published in 2024. Accessed on October, 8th 2024. https://managementpapers.polsl.pl/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/193%C5%81aszkiewicz.pdf Pause Assessment: Purpose: 1. Yes 2. Yes Accuracy: 3. Yes 4. Yes Up-to-date: 5. Yes Suitable: 6. Yes 7. ~yes(unsure) Expertise: 8. Yes 9. Yes 10. Yes The majority of my responses were Yes. The resource is credible and appropriate.

[3]Lalit Kumar, Iksha Jaiswal. “Social Media Influencers’ Impact on Young Women’s Acceptance of Beauty Standards”, researchgate, April 2023. Accessed on September, 24th 2024. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376650225_Social_Media_Influencers'_Impact_On _Young_Women's_Acceptance_Of_Beauty_Standards Pause Assessment: Purpose: 1. Yes 2. Yes Accuracy: 3. Yes 4. Yes Up-to-date: 5. Yes Suitable: 6. Yes 7. Yes Expertise: 8. Yes 9. Yes 10. Yes The majority of my responses were Yes. The resource is credible and appropriate.

[4]Alexandra Dane, Komal Bhatia. “The social media diet: A scoping review to investigate the association between social media, body image and eating disorders amongst young people”, Plos Global Public Health, March, 22nd 2023. Accessed on September 24th 2024. https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0001091#sec067 CRAAP test: Currency: 3 Relevance: 2 Authority: 3 Accuracy: 3 Purpose: 3 TOTAL: 14 peer-reviewed research article; excellent source for academic work

III. A project challenging but rewarding

https://www.virtualhumans.org

http://www.clarechambers.com

https://muckrack.com/sam-gruet

Cameron James Wilson CEO of The Diigitals

Political philosopher Clare Chambers who wrote:

BBC news author Sam Gruet

http://www.clarechambers.com

London-based model Alexsandrah Gondora

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68347250

Conclusion

To what extent do AI influencers impact societal perceptions of beauty in the UK ?

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