Can influencer marketing stay authentic in the age of AI?

AI has become impossible to ignore. But it is more than a buzzword. AI is changing how people work, spend their leisure time and consume entertainment, and influencer marketing is no exception.

Insights from a 2025 Kolsquare survey show that up to 80 per cent of European content creators are using AI tools, with 72 per cent using AI for ideation or editing, 40 per cent for optimising content for SEO purposes and 38 per cent for content analytics.  

From an audience perspective, AI has been influencing social media consumption for some time now. Meta, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat already use AI to personalise feeds and recommend content based on what users watch and engage with.

As AI becomes more embedded in influencer marketing, the question is whether it risks weakening the trust that underpins the relationship between creators and their audiences. People follow influencers because they offer something personal, original and genuine.

Yet if brands are relying on AI to source influencers for their campaigns based on patterns and metrics, rather than storytelling power or emotional connection, what happens to this relationship? Does the content on offer become a watered-down version of the same thing over and over again? 

The authenticity issue 

AI offers clear benefits for brands. Automating administrative tasks can save time, while analysing large volumes of data can help identify patterns in audience behaviour and engagement that would be difficult to spot manually.

But this isn’t the whole story. Marketing Week reports that in 2025, almost three in five consumers said they had little-to-no trust in brands to use AI responsibly. Things get even more complicated when we consider AI-powered influencers, not just AI-enhanced content. 

Numerous brands in the tech and fashion industries, such as Samsung and Prada, have experimented with using AI influencers in their campaigns. According to media monitoring platform Meltwater, there was a 50 per cent increase in mentions of AI influencers on social media in the first five months of 2025 compared to August-December 2024. 

Yet a study by the World Federation of Advertisers in 2025 revealed that up to 96 per cent of major multinational companies surveyed have concerns about consumer trust and acceptance of AI influencers, with 73 per cent specifically citing authenticity issues. 

Influencers became popular with audiences worldwide precisely because they were viewed as genuine, authentic and trustworthy. Manufacturing an influencer using AI contradicts this, taking away the emotional connection that content creators have built with their audiences over time. 

Copy and paste  

Social media fatigue appears to be growing. According to Deloitte's Digital Consumer Trends survey 2025, 53 per cent of gen Z supported a social media ban for under-16s, while one in five consumers said they had deleted a social media app in the previous 12 months.

If the spark that made social media engaging, exciting and innovative is taken away, this fatigue will only get worse. Stripping away the human creativity and relatability of influencers and instead relying on formulaic patterns and algorithms means content creators begin to look the same, behave in the same way and produce the same content. 

This isn’t delivering the authenticity consumers are craving. Relying on AI can make content feel generic, contrived and boring, missing out on the personal touch that appeals to audiences.  

It’s also worth noting that brands relying solely on AI to select influencers for their campaigns risk excluding content creators who are the perfect fit for their audience. Follower numbers aren’t everything, but if this is what the algorithm prioritises, brands could miss out on valuable storytelling from influencers that align with their campaign. AI can’t appreciate nuance, and it’s this that sets humans apart. 

Finding the right balance

There is nothing wrong with using AI to save time on admin tasks, editing, briefing, or content ideation, but the human touch needs to stay intact throughout the whole process. AI works best as a tool, not a replacement for the judgement and creativity that make influencer content worth watching. If campaigns are grounded in algorithms and repetitive trends, they are unlikely to produce the desired results. AI can help identify patterns and opportunities, but brands still need people to decide which creators genuinely connect with an audience.

AI and the future of influence

There’s no doubt that AI is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. This is despite the fact that consumers across the world are feeling fatigued by the amount of tech, content and trends that are pushed to them every day. 

Audiences are craving authenticity and originality more than ever, but the influence of AI is at odds with this. We need to find a way to make AI work in the influencer marketing world, and the way forward is to get the balance right. 

The most effective campaigns will combine AI's ability to process data with the instincts and creativity that people bring. AI doesn’t need to compromise authenticity, but can be used to enhance those relationships that take time and care to build. 

Joseph Black and Oliver Jacobs are co-founders of UniTaskr and SHOUT 

Further reading

How to make yourself irreplaceable in an age of AI

From visibility to recommendations: how earned media is powering AI search

Book review: AI for Public Relations by Stephen Waddington and Ben Verinder