[Virtual influencers on social media aren’t new, but as the technology improves and their images and text become more convincing, they’re more likely to evoke presence in internet users and be perceived as real people. This story from the Daily Mail provides a vivid example; see the original version for eight more images, one of which is a screengrab of a conversation with a user. For more images and information, see Emily Pellegrini‘s Instagram. Combine this story with one in Futurism titled, “Huge proportion of internet is AI-generated slime, researchers find,” and the increasing difficulty in accurately distinguishing human and machine-created content becomes even more worrisome (in fact, the uncorrected typos in the story below initially had me wondering if it was generated by AI). –Matthew]

Meet the ‘world’s hottest model’ catching the eye of famous footballers, MMA fighters and billionaires – but is all what it seems?

• Emily Pellegrini has amassed Instagram following of 123,000 in four months
• She is regularly offered dates in expensive restaurants and offered holidays
• Emily is an AI generated image and earns her creator thousands on Fanvue

By Shannon Mcguigan
January 1, 2024

One model on Instagram is catching the eyes of famous footballers, MMA fighters and billionaires… but all is not quite what it seems.

Emily Pellegrini has amassed a huge Instagram following of 123,000 in only four months, but even though her videos and photos may be realistic – she is completely AI generated.

With her shapely physique and long brown hair, Emily began earning her creator nearly $10,000 in only six weeks on the content creation platform Fanvue.

They explained: ‘I asked Chat GPT what’s the average man’s dream girl and it said brown hair long and long legs, so I made her exactly how it said.’

‘The goal was to make her likeable and attractive. I wanted to keep her as real as possible.’

Emily has quickly attracted the attention of rich, powerful and successful men.

Her creator explained: ‘It’s very different who contacts her where. Via Instagram direct message there are really famous people, like footballers, billionaires, MMA fighters and tennis players.’

‘They think she is real. They invite her to Dubai to meet and eat at a great restaurants.’

One unnamed famous face who contacted her allegedly knew Cristiano Ronaldo, the creator claimed.

He said: ‘There was a bit of moment where I was like ‘what the f*** is goin on.’

A keen professional footballer has also popped into Emily’s messages, asking: ‘How is it possible that such a Beautiful Lady doesn’t have a boyfriend?’

The German star even asked the AI model for her contact details.

But while Emily is offered trips to five star hotels and expensive restaurants, it’s far from glamorous for the person running her accounts.

They said: ‘In the beginning I worked 14-16 hours a day on her to really figure out which Emily’s programmes work well for her face, body and video,’ said the creator.

‘Now I work round eight hours everyday of the week, I am not the kind of person who goes to party – I just work.’

But Emily isn’t the only character to exist in her world with the creator making a sister for her named Fiona who has also bagged up around 30,000 Instagram followers already.

Emily and Fiona’s success comes after the use of AI generators has skyrocketed over recent months, with Unstable Diffusion producing more than 500,000 NSFW images each day, according to Business Insider.

Fanvue’s founder and CEO Will Monange told the publication that AI gives content creators the ability to explore their creative spark without ‘being the face’ of a creation.

They think that AI-generated adult stars will ‘thrive’ in the near future, eventually becoming major competitors to real-life influencers.

Not only that but it gives creators the opportunity to be more than one person.

Emily and Fiona’s creator hopes to add more sisters to their AI brood, quipping: ‘Yeah I have a plan to launch a third and fourth model but not so soon. There is no name at the moment but the third one will be a red head.’

The edge these AI models have over your typical influencer? They can be anywhere in the world from their creator’s living room.

Emily’s creator explained: ‘I’ll grow because I can be everywhere at any time so you are not only [in] your bathroom. You can go from Monte Carlo to Mallorca to Spain to China.’

Regarding what it’s like to be the faceless mind behind the booming accounts of Emily and Fiona, their creator said: ‘It feels like a double life for sure.’

‘But I really don’t want to be public. I don’t want to be on internet like an influencer who has to make videos everyday showing everything they eat and do. It’s just not my thing.’