Marketers Are Open to Automating Influencer Marketing with AI The industry was abuzz last summer after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that by the end of 2026, the entire advertising process would be fully automated. Interestingly, many marketers also believe that creator marketing operations should be automated. According to CreatorIQ’s The State of Creator Marketing 2025-2026 report, 35% of brands and 51% of industry leaders “strongly agree” with fully automating influencer marketing using AI. Additionally, 34% of brands and 36% of industry leaders somewhat agree with this idea. In contrast, only 6% of brands and 1% of industry leaders “strongly disagree” with the notion of fully automating influencer marketing via AI. Most Marketers Are Not Planning to Use Virtual Influencers, Creator Clones, or Avatars in 2026 While AI has its role, it is not expected to replace all aspects of influencer marketing. When asked about their influencer marketing strategies for 2026, just 9% of marketers plan to collaborate with virtual influencers.

Only 2% intend to create their own avatars or work with digital clones of creators, according to Linqia’s 2026 State of Influencer Marketing report. Unsurprisingly, the majority—89%—do not plan to adopt any of these AI-driven options next year. Creators Anticipate AI Will Continue to Transform the Industry Like marketers, many creators have already integrated AI into their workflows, but they expect its influence to grow further. In Epidemic Sound’s The Future of the Creator Economy Report 2025, 28% of creators believe AI-generated content will shape the next two to three years. Another 27% foresee the emergence of AI-powered creator marketplaces that automatically connect creators with brands, licensing opportunities, or briefs—marketplaces that are beginning to take form on platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Moreover, 27% of creators surveyed anticipate that AI tools may replace editors, managers, or creative collaborators within the next few years. Consumers Express Concerns About Brands Using AI for Content Although opinions on AI remain mixed during its current hype phase, consumers harbor concerns about how brands present themselves on social media. According to Sprout Social’s pulse survey, The State of Social Media in 2025, just over half (52%) of consumers are worried that brands might post AI-generated content without disclosure, ranking it alongside concerns about mishandling personal data. Consumers Maintain Skepticism Toward AI and Creator Content Given the surge of low-quality AI content on social media, skepticism about AI-generated creator content persists. Data from Billion Dollar Boy’s upcoming Muse Two report, The Real Impact of AI on the Creator Economy, indicates that only about 26% of consumers currently prefer generative AI creator content over traditional creator content, down from 60% in 2023. Similarly, roughly 32% of consumers now believe AI has negatively impacted the creator economy, compared to 18% in 2023. While 34% of consumers thought AI had positively disrupted the creator economy in 2023, that figure has dropped to 31% in 2025.