Nano Banana revolutionizes avatar creation: now you can generate a full-body avatar from a simple selfie. Max Kut, a videographer and influencer specializing in artificial intelligence, found an innovative solution to content creation fatigue: he delegated his digital presence to an AI-generated avatar. After an exhausting night of work, Kut decided that his virtual alter ego, Aria, a young woman with dark hair and light eyes, would manage his social media activity. Since then, he has abandoned his personal account and focuses exclusively on Aria's, achieving exponential growth: “It took me three years to reach 100,000 followers with my image, but with Aria, I'm close to that number in less than a month,” he claims. The rise of hyper-realistic avatars on social media is not new. From the global phenomenon of Lil Miquela to Spanish cases like Alba Renai or Aitana López, these virtual characters—mostly young women with normative physiques—have conquered platforms like Instagram and TikTok. The democratization of tools like Opus from Anthropic in 2024 has facilitated the creation of these avatars, driving a wave of virtual influencers who, according to Influencer Marketing Hub data, were already followed by more than half of users in 2023. The influencer marketing sector, projected to reach $28 billion by 2025, is undergoing a transformation thanks to AI. Seventy-five percent of industry professionals believe automation will be key in the future. Gonzalo Cebrián, CEO of Le Guide Noir, anticipates that AI avatars will surpass human influencers: “If AI does it better, AI will win. There’s always a person giving instructions, but now anyone with creativity can succeed without exposing themselves.” The popularity of avatars has also led to a proliferation of courses to learn how to create and monetize them, many featuring sexualized female avatars. However, Max Kut emphasizes accessibility: his courses, aimed at beginners, seek to democratize access to avatar creation for just 150 euros. “You only need basic knowledge of tools like Canva and know how to navigate the internet,” he explains. For brands, AI avatars offer clear advantages: they are more cost-effective, scalable, and customizable. “A human influencer can charge 2,000 euros for a post; an avatar does it for half and can generate unlimited content until the client is satisfied,” Cebrián points out. However, transparency is crucial. The case of Jessica Foster, an avatar that amassed nearly a million followers without revealing her virtual nature, demonstrates the risks of deceiving the audience. Neus Soler, a professor at UOC, highlights that avatars allow brands to fully control the identity and values of the character, but warns about the loss of authenticity and the danger of losing public trust if the deception is discovered. Max Kut, aware of these risks, labels all of Aria's content as AI-generated and clearly indicates it on his profile. Still, he acknowledges that some users continue to believe she is a real person. “People need to learn not to believe everything they see, and platforms should demand stricter regulations to identify AI content,” he asserts. The future of avatars will depend on their ability to provide value beyond appearance. Kut warns that empty content does not build loyalty: “An avatar must have a clear purpose and provide something useful to the audience. If it’s just pretty, it doesn’t matter.” Source: 20minutos.es