Is Influencer Marketing About to Be Replaced by AI? Let Me Show You a Few Numbers First

A few days ago I came across a set of numbers that genuinely surprised me.

Not because they scared me — what threw me was the disconnect between what people in this industry say and what they actually do.

Here's the thing.

You hear marketers say out loud, "AI will never replace human creators." But privately? They're already voting yes on letting AI fully automate influencer marketing.

Contrast One: Public No, Private Yes

One industry report asked hundreds of brands and industry leaders a single question: Do you support fully automating influencer marketing?

Here's what came back:

• 35% of brands "strongly support" it.
• Among industry leaders, 51% "strongly support" it.
• Add in the "somewhat support" crowd, and you get 69% of brands and 87% of industry leaders in favor.
• "Strongly oppose"? Just 6% of brands and 1% of industry leaders.

So this isn't a fringe view. It's the majority.

But here's what's interesting. Ask the same industry, "Are you planning to use virtual influencers, clone yourself, or build a digital avatar next year?" — and the answers completely flip.

Only 9% plan to work with virtual influencers. Only 2% plan to build their own avatar. 89% say, "We don't plan to do any of these."

In plain English: I want other people to be automated by AI. I just don't want to become AI myself.

Pretty typical mindset, right?

Contrast Two: Creators Are More Anxious Than Brands

What about the creators?

28% of creators predict that over the next two to three years, the entire industry will be dominated by AI-generated content.

27% predict an AI-driven creator marketplace will emerge — no need for a talent agent anymore; AI automatically matches you with brands and briefs.

Another 27% name their biggest fear out loud: AI tools will replace editors, agents, and collaborators.

And notice — this is what creators themselves are saying.

They're already using AI to write scripts, edit videos, add subtitles. But they keep saying, "AI can't replace my creativity." Privately, they may be thinking something else.

I've talked to a lot of small and mid-sized creators, and this anxiety is real. On the surface they say "AI is just a tool." But at 3 a.m., when they can't sleep, they're wondering: If brands eventually decide AI is cheaper than me, am I done for?

Contrast Three: Consumers Are Sharper Than Anyone

The most interesting attitude comes from consumers.

52% of consumers say brands posting AI-generated content on social media without disclosing it is one of their top concerns.

Tied for first place with "the brand leaked my private data."

In other words, in the user's mind, "they didn't tell me AI wrote this" is roughly equal to "they didn't tell me how they used my data."

That's the same level of broken trust.

And here's an even sharper set of numbers:

• In 2023, 60% of consumers said they liked AI-generated creator content.
• By 2025, that number had dropped to 26%.
• Meanwhile, the share who believe "AI has had a negative impact on the creator economy" rose from 18% to 32%.

Users have gone from curious to wary.

Why? Because AI content has flooded the market.

You scroll Douyin, you scroll Xiaohongshu — you can't even tell anymore whether a post is from a real person or a machine. At first it felt novel. After a while it feels stale, deceptive, like "these brands are fobbing me off again."

So What Actually Happens Next Year?

Let me give you three judgments.

Judgment One: The brand "automation impulse" will cool off for a while.

Everyone says they support automation in surveys. But once they actually try it, they'll find that AI-selected influencers, AI-written briefs, and AI-measured results often backfire. The core of influencer marketing is "human-to-human trust." On that front, AI is still miles behind.

Next year we'll see a wave of brands that "tried AI, the results were bad, and they pulled back to real humans."

Judgment Two: Virtual influencers and digital avatars will stay niche.

The technology can already produce very realistic virtual humans, but user acceptance hasn't caught up. 89% of brands have no plans to touch this — not because they can't, but because doing it actually damages their reputation.

Next year this space will still be all sizzle, no steak.

Judgment Three: Content where people can tell at a glance it's from a real human will get more expensive.

Why? Because it's scarce now.

When AI content is everywhere, what's truly scarce is content with "obvious personality, real emotion, and a specific lived life behind it."

Users will increasingly be willing to pay for "real."

So if you're a creator, my advice is simple: don't compete with AI on volume. Compete on sincerity.

AI can produce 100 videos a day. You can't, and you don't need to.

You make one. But that one has something that really happened to you yesterday, the anxiety that really kept you up last night, your real judgment on this thing — and that's enough.

AI will never be able to produce that.

Finally

After sitting with all this data, I'm left with one judgment I keep coming back to:

AI isn't replacing creators. It's redefining what kind of creator is valuable.

In the past, if you could produce content, you had value.

In the future, you'll have value only if you can produce "content people are willing to trust."

This shift is good news for people who genuinely have something to say.

For the people who survive on scraping-and-reposting, spinning other people's work, and mass production — it's doomsday.

So tell me — which camp are you in?