by By Cassia Williams
The world we live in is always changing. Shifts that used to happen year to year now occur every day, sometimes even hour to hour. AI has brought what is arguably the largest shift yet, a shift in how we research, create, and use social media. AI appears in almost every part of digital life now, from small things like writing captions to much larger ones like AI influencers.
AI influencers are accounts that mirror real influencers but are created and maintained entirely by artificial intelligence. They look real, speak like real creators, and are marketed in the same way human influencers are. These accounts exist for several reasons, but their primary goal is to influence, gain followers, and promote products.
Influencer culture has already been controversial. There have been many public examples of the problems that come with influencing, including the Piper Rockelle kidfluencing documentary, the DaddyOFive scandal, and the Myka Stauffer controversy. These situations showed how easily influence can be misused or monetized in unhealthy ways. Even adult creators face criticism for misleading sponsorships or unrealistic lifestyle content. Although many influencers are honest, the pressure to make money can push some toward content that is not transparent.
This makes AI influencers even more concerning. These accounts are not real people; they imitate human creators while being fully controlled by companies or individuals who want fast growth and profit. An AI influencer can promote products without accountability or consequences,
This situation is only one part of the oversaturation of AI that has taken over social media. Until recently, it was almost impossible to scroll through an app without seeing AI-generated photos or videos. However, that may begin to shift. Co-CEO of X, formerly Twitter, Jack Dorsey, recently announced that he will be funding a relaunch of the popular app Vine, but with a significant change.
The new version, called DiVine, will be entirely AI-free. The app will allow only real videos from real human users and will be strictly monitored for AI content. Many people are welcoming this idea, especially those who feel overwhelmed by the amount of AI content on Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms.
Vine, originally launched in 2015, allowed users to post videos under six seconds. It quickly became wildly popular and is still remembered as an important cultural moment online. Twitter, now X, bought Vine four months after its launch, and although the platform grew for years, it was shut down in 2017. Fans were devastated and still talk about it, even seven years later. The upcoming relaunch has many people celebrating, but its success will depend on whether it can grow again and remain truly AI-free.
If DiVine succeeds, it may help bring back an era of human-created, authentic content. However, it will have several hurdles to overcome before that can become a reality.
Find other work by Cassia Williams on their Medium
Hey! This was a pretty interesting post. You made the whole AI influencer issue simple to understand and, to be truthful, quite shocking. I appreciate how you connected it to the launch of DiVine since it shows the clear distinctions among AI and actual content. All in all, it left me thinking about the future of social media.
Hello Cassia, this is an awesome post to see since Vine was a huge part of my childhood. You brought some of the biggest controversies up in concern to influencers causing harm to those around them for their brief period of fame and being viral. It will be interesting to see if DiVine can stand up and survive against the social media platform juggernauts like Instagram and TikTok because those apps no longer just do one thing on their own and are now able to used as all for one app. Great post once again.
VINE!!!! I really like their stance on having an AI-Free app so users can showcase their talent without having full AI videos taking over. I think a lot of us will be excited to see Vine come back, I will definitely be joining.
Hey Cassia,
This is a great post and I would love to see Vine return. I think you bring up some good concerns about that happening and I especially like your point about how AI can be a huge issue on this new platform, especially in regards to AI influencers.
Hi Cassia! AI Influencers have been getting huge which is frightening but I am glad at least some platforms are pushing back. I have been really excited about Vine coming back and now I am even more excited that it will be an AI free platform just as it was the first time around (this was since AI wasn’t being used on social media then of course). This should get their rerelease even more positive press.
Hi Cassia! I thought your post was really interesting, especially the way you explained how quickly AI has blended into everyday social media. Your section on AI influencers was honestly eye-opening — it’s wild how realistic they look and how easily they can be used for promotion without any accountability. I also loved how you connected that to the relaunch of Vine as an AI-free space. It’s refreshing to think about a platform focused only on human creativity again. Your post made me think a lot about where social media is heading and what “authentic” content even means now.