Authenticity is the last thing an influencer needs to go viral.

This seems to be the conclusion of the sudden push towards AI-generated influencers and their apparently limitless growth capabilities. As AI visuals get more difficult to detect and a larger audience gets more relaxed towards the idea of being entertained by artificial intelligence, the crowded market of short-form content creators becomes a place where it is easier for these characters to sneak under the radar. 

The most prominent of these in recent weeks has been Jean Philanthrope, a blond-bobbed, vintage suit-wearing Frenchman often referred to as Jean Phil, who first appeared shadow boxing his way through various locations on September 17th. Gaining 15 million views on his first TikTok alone, there was significant debate as to whether Jean was real or not, and his admiring viewers spawned plenty of memes featuring his distinctive likeness in the meantime. When he was linked to a cryptocurrency bearing his name, it much of the audience felt it conclusively proved that he was an AI stunt designed to turn a profit—although many still argue that he is too realistic not to be an actual person.