AI-generated influencers are here. Can you tell who’s real?
From The Excerpt by USA TODAY
April 27, 2026 · 18 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the rise of AI-generated influencers and their impact on authenticity and misinformation in social media.
Generative AI is making it easier than ever to create influencers who don’t actually exist. These synthetic personas can build audiences, promote products and even shape political conversations — often without people realizing they aren’t real. So what happens when influence itself can be engineered at scale? We sit down with Charlie Warzel, a staff writer at The Atlantic, who explains how AI-generated influencers are fueling a “volume game” online, why authenticity may matter less than we think and how this trend could deepen misinformation and political division. Plus, what to look for if you’re trying to spot who’s real — and who’s not — in your feed. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@usatoday.com . Episode transcript available here . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
People in this episode
Host: USA TODAY
Guest: Charlie Warzel
Topics covered
- AI-generated influencers
- synthetic personas
- misinformation
- political division
- authenticity
- social media
Keywords
- AI influencers
- generative AI
- social media
- political conversations
- audience building
- misinformation
- authenticity
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Atlantic
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