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I was driving through Los Angeles the other day and noticed an uptick in WayMos. Those are the driverless cars that originated in San Francisco. As I realized this meant that Uber and Lyft drivers could eventually get replaced by robocars, it made me wonder:
What other jobs are at risk of being replaced by robots or CGI?
Then the fear donned on me: influencers. We could potentially see a world in the next 10-15 years where our comfort creators are not actual humans but rather made up of Sim-like avatars. These “generated influencers”, as I am calling it, have no racist Tweets to be unearthed, they won’t call out for sick days or face creative burn out. But most importantly, they won’t ask for any money.
We already saw the rise of CGI-creators the last 10-years with influencers like Lil Miquela growing to 2.5 million followers on IG. Spotify Wrapped launched an AI podcast episode that recaps listeners music habits through out the past year. Boston Dynamic robo-dogs walked the runway alongside models at a 2023 Coperni fashion show.
Does the rise of A.I. and robotics for art foreshadow the end of human influencers, models and podcasters?
TOPICS DISCUSSED:
0:00 - The rise of robots as social status (Alexander McQueen 1999 show)
2:00 - The first CGI Influencer: Lil Miquela
6:30 - TikTok Ban + Housekeeping
7:39 - Why I have never run an ad on this podcast
9:50 - What I mean by “generated influencers”
11:10 - Future technology influences in media (Zenon, Back to the Future, The Jetsons)
13:00 - Robots don’t understand consequences
16:13 - The Kardashians and the Tesla Robots (Kim Kardashian x Elon Musk)
18:50 - Cyborg Fashion Trends
22:04 - The rise of “fake” influencers
23:58 - Why audiences don’t actually want “authenticity”
26:06 - The risk of working with influencers
28:15 - Why you shouldn’t feel bad for charging for a brand deal
29:15 - The reason brands will lean into generated creators
33:15 - Spotify using AI hosts for the wrapped podcast *
38:50 - Why flaws will become much more lucrative
40:18 - The commodification of “authenticity”
43:28 - Why live streaming will be hard for generated influencers
44:11 - The two things audiences will never stop craving
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REFERENCE LINKS:
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“Ahead of the Curve with Coco Mocoe” is a marketing podcast that covers internet and pop culture but from a branding angle. Coco Mocoe is a trend forecaster and marketing expert who loves diving deep into why things go viral on the internet and how you can apply that to your own brand or creator journey.
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