Deepfake Influencers Push Supplements Online

An Amish woman who rails against processed food and praises a $50 "detox" powder has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers online. She also doesn't exist. The New York Times reports that "Melanskia" is one of several AI-generated personalities deployed to sell Modern Antidote, a wellness supplement marketed almost entirely through synthetic influencers on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook—with no clear notice that the people in the videos are fake. But avatars—among them a Tibetan "monk" and a lineup of nearly identical buff middle-aged men—are part of a broader shift in wellness marketing. "Game changer," says Modern Antidote owner Josemaria Silvestrini. "Every piece of the business is being AI-ified."

Researchers warn that increasingly realistic AI personalities could make it easier to blur the line between marketing and authenticity. A February study in the British Journal of Psychology found that people tend to overestimate their ability to identify AI-generated faces, leaving them vulnerable to deception as the technology improves. And in the crowded wellness market—where identity and perceived authenticity often drive sales—that risk may be especially acute. Timothy Caulfield, research director at the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta, tells the Times that AI lets companies cheaply experiment with countless digital spokespeople until one resonates. "It's so tremendously efficient."

Regulators are beginning to take notice, with several states passing laws to require disclosure of AI-generated content. And the marketing potential of artificial influencers may already be facing limits: Business Insider reports that brand partnerships with AI social accounts dropped about 30% in the first eight months of 2025 compared with the same period a year earlier, citing data from the influencer-marketing platform Collabstr. Still, Silvestrini says it's only a matter of time before knowing what's real and what's AI won't matter. "Very soon it's going to just become so commonplace that it's just more content."