Latest news with #AIinfluencer
News.com.au
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
People online duped for thinking AI influencer Mia Zelu is real as deepfake accounts skyrocket across social media
Influencer Mia Zelu's done it all. Courtside among the biggest names at Wimbledon? Yep. A Coldplay concert experience of a lifetime? Completed it. Sipping coffee in picturesque Italian streets? Piece of cake. Her Instagram page is filled with big bucket list stuff. Except it's not real. Not the typical social media personality, Zelu is actually an AI influencer, meaning she's just a generated picture on a screen. Nothing more. But she looks so real that most of her 167k Instagram followers wouldn't even know she doesn't actually exist. Don't tell those who keep up with her 'sister' Ana Zelu, who's fooled even more people with 267k followers who interact with her either unknowing or uncaring of the truth behind her account. With their photorealistic posts and human-like captions, the fake sisters are just a few of the increasing number of AI accounts that are fooling people into thinking they're real, despite (some of) their bios stating they aren't. Tech expert and editor of Trevor Long says the reason these accounts are having the same effect on people as real influencers is because AI has understood what people are drawn to and can feed into the same patterns without skipping a beat. For a technological tool designed to help people, having it understand what people want isn't a bad thing. The danger is not knowing what's real and what's not. 'Most of us don't know the influencer on the other side of [an] Instagram account that is real, so knowing that someone is real or artificial intelligence actually doesn't change much of the perception of content,' Mr Long told 'However, if that content is sculpted and created in such a way that it is truly targeted and you don't have the morals of a real human being deciding whether or not they will sit in that spot, take that photo, try that thing, go to that event, we start to really push the boundaries of where this influential culture might go.' Getty Images' Asia-Pacific head of creative Kate Roruke said they've conducted research that found that although 65 per cent of people could spot an AI photo, more than 95 per cent also mistook real images for AI. 'People are used to seeing curated, almost perfect images from human influencers, achieved through extensive editing, filters and professional photography. Zelu, being entirely AI-generated, naturally embodies this idealised flawless skin, perfect lighting and picture-perfect poses,' she said. But concerns then about the extreme uses of the tech then also create a problem, like deep fake pornographic material which has pushed the moral and ethical boundaries of AI. Numerous celebrities like Taylor Swift and face of the NRLW Jaime Chapman have already become victims. The value of knowing if something is real has never been more important in an age when a tool not everyone yet understands is already out of control. Mr Long says it is incumbent on the big tech companies like Meta and TikTok to be able to give users validation on what is real and what isn't, and give precedence to the real people using their platforms. 'We talk so much about the algorithm. It should be the case that real people are prioritised so that we know that we can listen to and decide whether or not we trust that person, otherwise we're probably putting our trust in an AI fake individual,' he said. While easier said than done, companies like YouTube have taken steps towards creating better clarity and priority to real content, last week announcing they were demonetising accounts and channels that generate purely AI generated content. 'There's some fun AI videos out there. It might be a kangaroo doing a vlog or silly things like that,' Mr Long said.
Khaleej Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Look: Influencer Mia Zelu goes viral at Wimbledon; social media users discover she's not real
Annual tennis tournament Wimbledon is a place where celebrities from every industry come out in force — and an event that garners a lot of attention for several reasons. This year, one woman — an influencer called Mia Zelu — seems to have stolen the spotlight. Mia has a 165,000-strong following and went viral after posting several photos of herself at the star-studded sports event. Complete with a stunning fit for the day, and a glossy hairdo, this digital storyteller looks like your average influencer; well-groomed, successful, travelling the world, and throwing in some inspirational quotes. But there's just one problem — she doesn't exist. Who is Mia Zelu? This Instagram personality is an AI influencer who serves up fashion inspiration, with a side of daily moments. She is simply a product of an algorithm, with carefully curated Instagram posts involving AI-generated visuals that appear startlingly human, and cleverly crafted captions. With photos in different settings, the AI-generated influencer closely resembles human tastes. While she has her "everyday life" featuring casual clothes and settings, she also occasionally splurges at concerts, in yachts, and soaking up the sun at beaches. Why did she go viral at Wimbledon? Mia shared photos of her Wimbledon outing, with an inspirational message: "Your time will come. Keep showing up". Commenters agreed with her caption and engaged with her post. While Mia makes it clear on her Instagram profile bio that she is an AI influencer, several commenters remained unaware. Some ask for her outfit details, yet others wish her a good weekend. But in the AI era, one can not be too sure — are the commenters real, or are they a product of AI too? However, some individuals expressed their confusion at the discovery that Mia was AI, having just found out from the news after her Wimbledon post went viral. One Instagram user said "Wait, so you aren't real?! I'm so confused now". Another commented "AI; I just saw on the news." Mia has 165,000 followers, and even a "sister" — Ana Zelu, who boasts 266,000 followers. Ana, like her "sister", is a digital creator who posts "snapshots of her life". The AI debate The two AI influencers are part of a growing trend of humans connecting to chatbots, personalities who don't exist, and tech "friends". Other than not being real, what do they have in common is a human audience who seeks validation through these artificial characters who are instantly available, do not judge, and seem to always listen. However, experts have reiterated time and again that such a dependence on AI personalities will prove harmful in the long run, as they can only provide short-term gratification, and can not take any real action, or provide real support.
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Stunning influencer's Instagram posts go viral at Wimbledon - but she's AI
Thousands of social media users, including an international cricket star, have been duped by an AI influencer who has attracted huge swathes of attention on Instagram. Over 150,000 people follow influencer Mia Zelu on the social media platform, with her most recent post from her 'trip' to Wimbledon drawing 43,000 'likes'. 'Mia' shared snaps of herself enjoying a glass of Pimm's, sitting in the stands courtside and enjoying a buffet from her visit to SW19. The caption accompanying the post asked fans: 'Which Wimbledon match was your fave?' Thousands have liked the posts shared by Zelu, with Indian cricket fans noting their wicket-keeper batsmen Rishabh Pant was among them. One fan produced a compilation of the posts from Zelu's account, with Pant among the thousands to have liked the images. Fans were quick to poke fun at Pant's expense, due to the influencer's image having been generated using AI. 'Rishabh Pant thinks he's interacting with a real girl, totally oblivious to the fact that it's an AI,' one account wrote. Another added: 'Someone should probably tell Rishabh Pant that this is an AI account…' Pant's likes of the posts are no longer visible on Instagram, with the India's 27-year-old vice-captain yet to address the interactions. Fans also compared the likes to a similar situation involving former India captain Virat Kohli in May, after he had appeared to have liked a post from actress Avneet Kaur. 'I'd like to clarify that while clearing my feed, it appears it appears the algorithm may have mistakenly registered an interaction,' Kohli said following speculation on social media. 'There was absolutely no intent behind it. I request that no unnecessary assumptions be made.' Unlike the AI model, Pant had actually been in attendance at Wimbledon on Monday ahead of the third Test between England and India at Lord's.
