A new conservative influencer entered the creator space. But what made her stand out? She didn’t exist. She was a AI-generated by a man in India. Emily Austin, a podcast host and content creator in the sports and political space, warned transparency is important as AI becomes more prevalent.
A 22-year-old in northern India, hoping to become an orthopedic surgeon and move to America one day, was looking to make more money. He did so by generating an AI conservative female influencer with the help of Google’s Gemini Nano Banana Pro, who he named Emily Hart.
Austin spoke with Fox News Digital about this “frightening” story and on the expansion of AI in the creator space.
Austin believes there is not enough awareness of this issue.
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“There definitely needs to be at least transparency, or maybe they should, you know, market more of an awareness like, ‘Hey guys, this person that is using a real voice and a real face could actually be fake.'”
Austin said that right now, there is only so much that can be done to combat this.
“There’s only so much we can do, right? Like, we can crack down on, for example, Pakistanis and Indian men pretending to be hot girls on the internet,” Austin said. “But on the other hand, I know people are lending their identity for somebody to make account. It’s really twisted, this is a whole market.”
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Austin joked, “I am working too damn hard. I should have just AI’d myself, saved all the headache and save all the thinking and just made content and grew my following that way and just have it all easy.”
According to WIRED, “Sam,” a fake name used to protect his identity, said he discovered with the help of Google Gemini, “If you create a generic ‘hot girl,’ you’re competing with a million other models,” according to a transcript Sam provided to WIRED.
The AI-generated account featured a blonde woman who posed in outfits including a USA-themed bikini, and MAGA hat, sometimes ice fishing or shooting a rifle.
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Sam told Wired, “Every day I’d write something pro-Christian, pro-Second Amendment, pro-life, anti-abortion, anti-woke, and anti-immigration.”
Sam said, “Every Reel I posted was getting 3 million views, 5 million views, 10 million views. The algorithm loved it.”
Sam discovered that conservative audiences, specifically older men, have more disposable funds and are a “more loyal” audience base.
He ended up making thousands from the AI account through engagement, MAGA-themed T-shirts, and from Fanvue subscriptions.
The account that was once @emily_hart.nurse on Instagram grew to 10,000 followers in a month. The account can no longer be found on social media platforms.
The “Emily Austin Podcast” host applauded Elon Musk for purchasing Twitter (now X) for exposing AI content, and said Musk is “saving humanity.”
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Austin said, “Elon Musk has single-handedly exposed multiple instances like this, where someone makes an AI profile, it’s undisclosed where they came from, it’s undisclosed whether or not they’re real.”
Austin added that with recent updates on X, users can see where an account originated.
She said a story like this should make people skeptical and to not take everything at “face value.”
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“Maybe do your due diligence better. But unfortunately, social media is very, instant gratification instant reward so not many people were like, ‘Oh, I agree with what they said, but who’s this person and where is this coming from?’ And I think that awareness is very important.”
However, as AI grows, Austin says everyone is irreplaceable.
“We are all irreplaceable. You know, I don’t like a lot of content creators and that’s not a secret. My page speaks for itself. But nonetheless, you give credit where it’s due, like they are following you because you are offering an opinion that clearly is making people feel seen and heard and people resonate with that.”
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Austin said people value feeling connected to other humans.
“I don’t know if people will find comfort in knowing that something’s programmed to say something, or secondly, I also think part of being a content creator is having a certain community around you and I think people relate to that like on a human level.”
Austin added that she does worry about AI replacing other jobs.
“I am worried about AI replacing hard labor that people get paid to do,” she said.
However, she believes that doesn’t apply to content creators.
“I’m really not worried about anything AI replacing me, at least, and maybe less interesting people,” she said.
