Scroll through Instagram or TikTok today, and you might follow creators who don’t exist in the traditional sense. They post outfit photos, review products, comment on trends, and even collaborate with brands. Yet there is no human behind the camera. These are AI influencers and virtual creators, and their presence on social media is growing faster than many people expected.
In fact, the market for virtual influencers, digital creator personas that operate primarily online, was valued at about $6.06 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow rapidly over the coming years, reflecting rising investment and interest from brands and platforms alike.
What started as a novelty has turned into a serious part of digital culture and marketing. Virtual creators are no longer limited to experimental accounts. They now appear in brand campaigns, music releases, fashion promotions, and long-term partnerships. Their rise reflects deeper changes in how content is created, consumed, and monetised on social platforms.
What Are AI Influencers and Virtual Creators?
AI influencers are digital personalities created using artificial intelligence, computer graphics, and automation tools. Some are fully virtual characters designed from scratch, while others are stylised avatars built to behave like real social media creators.
They post photos, videos, captions, and stories just like human influencers. The difference is that their appearance, voice, and behaviour are generated and controlled by software teams rather than a single individual. Behind every virtual creator is a mix of designers, writers, and technologists shaping how that personality shows up online.
To followers, however, the experience often feels familiar. The content appears in feeds, reacts to trends, and speaks the language of the platform.
Why Instagram and TikTok Became the Perfect Platforms
Instagram and TikTok are visual-first platforms, which makes them ideal environments for virtual creators. Audiences are already used to filters, edits, and stylised presentations. The line between real and produced content has been thin for years.
TikTok, in particular, rewards creativity, storytelling, and personality over polished production. This gives AI creators the opportunity to experiment with formats such as short videos and skits, trend participation, and narrative-driven content. Instagram, on the other hand, supports carefully curated visual identities, which suit fashion-focused and lifestyle-based virtual influencers.
Both platforms also rely heavily on algorithms. If content performs well, it spreads, regardless of whether the creator is human or virtual.
Why are more and more people becoming virtual creators?
Many factors are pushing AI influencers into the mainstream. One major reason is control. Brands and studios can shape every aspect of a virtual creator’s identity. There are no scheduling conflicts, personal controversies, or unpredictable behaviour. Content can be produced quickly and adjusted to fit campaigns precisely. The same scalability advantage is appearing in career workflows as well, where professionals now use the best tool to apply for jobs to manage high-volume applications with consistency and speed.
Another reason is scalability. A virtual creator can appear in multiple campaigns, speak different languages, and adapt to different markets without physical limitations. This flexibility is attractive to international brands trying to maintain consistency across regions.
That also raises a practical challenge: those “different languages” need to be accurate at scale. If brands are localising captions, product callouts, and campaign scripts, MachineTranslation.com is an AI translation tool that can help teams validate translations faster, especially with its Smart AI translation, which compares outputs from up to 22 AI models and automatically selects the version that the majority of AIs agree on for each sentence. This reduces guesswork and lowers the risk of subtle translation mistakes.
There is also novelty. Audiences are curious. Virtual creators stand out in crowded feeds, which helps them attract attention in an environment where organic reach is difficult to earn.
How Audiences Are Responding
Reactions to AI influencers are mixed, but engagement numbers show growing acceptance. Some followers treat virtual creators as entertainment. Others follow them for fashion inspiration, music, or storytelling.
Younger audiences, especially those who grew up with gaming avatars and digital identities, tend to be more open. For them, the idea of a non-human creator does not feel strange. What matters is whether the content is interesting, relatable, or visually appealing. Trust is still evolving. While people may enjoy the content, they are more cautious about recommendations and endorsements transparency about whether a creator is virtual plays a big role in how audiences perceive authenticity.
Brand Collaborations and Commercial Use
Brands are increasingly experimenting with virtual creators for campaigns on Instagram and TikTok. Fashion, beauty, tech, and entertainment brands have been early adopters. Virtual influencers give brands more creative control and planning flexibility.
They allow campaigns to be designed well in advance and executed with consistency across visuals and messaging. This reduces uncertainty while opening space for bolder ideas. Brands typically use virtual creators in a few specific ways.
- Launch new products with controlled storytelling.
- Maintain visual consistency across multiple campaigns
- Experiment with creative concepts without reputational risk
- Scale content across regions and formats
At the same time, brands are learning that technology alone does not get results. Campaigns perform better when virtual creators feel like characters rather than placeholders. Clear personality, values, and an ongoing narrative, which are key principles in building a strong brand identity help these creators connect with audiences instead of coming across as animated advertisements.
Beyond brand deals, many virtual creators are now launching their own premium content platforms to build more direct relationships with their fans. Solutions like Cleeng Pro allow these digital entrepreneurs to launch a professional subscription service in under 60 minutes. Because it is free for the first 10,000 subscribers, it provides a risk-free way for creators to test exclusive ‘behind-the-scenes’ content, virtual masterclasses, or private communities without the heavy technical lift or high upfront costs of building a custom membership site.
The Creative Process Behind Virtual Influencers
Despite the automation involved, virtual creators are not effortless. Their content is often the result of careful planning and collaboration.
Creative teams decide how the character looks, speaks, and behaves. Writers shape captions and storylines. Designers handle visuals and motion. Data guides posting times and content direction. AI tools assist, but human judgment still drives creative choices.
This blend of technology and human input is what makes successful virtual creators feel believable rather than artificial.
As workflows become more data-driven, creative teams also benefit when they learn SEO automation, enabling them to optimize publishing strategies without interrupting creative output.
How Virtual Creators Change Influencer Marketing.
AI influencers are not replacing human creators, but they are affecting the world with more diverse content for both human and virtual personalities.
Some campaigns now combine the two, using virtual creators alongside real people. Others use AI influencers for specific purposes such as product launches, experimental storytelling, or regional campaigns.
This shift encourages brands to think more carefully about why they choose certain creators and what role those creators play in their marketing strategy.
Virtual creators are likely to become more common, not less. As tools improve, they will look more natural, move more realistically, and interact more dynamically with audiences. At the same time, audiences may become more selective. Novelty alone will not be enough. Just like human influencers, virtual creators will need personality, consistency, and a reason for people to care.
The most successful ones will feel less like technology projects and more like characters with a point of view.
Wrapping It Up
The rise of AI influencers and virtual creators on Instagram and TikTok reflects a broader shift in how identity, creativity, and influence are defined online. These creators sit at the intersection of technology and culture, challenging traditional ideas of authenticity while opening new creative possibilities.
They are not a replacement for human expression, but an extension of it. As audiences, brands, and platforms adapt, virtual creators will continue to shape the future of social media in ways that feel both unfamiliar and surprisingly natural.
