The Rise Of Artificial Personalities

If there has been one unexpected AI trend over the past year, it’s not another chatbot or image generator. It’s the emergence of AI personalities.

Over the past few weeks alone, several very different stories have pointed in the same direction.

Representatives for Tyra Banks have suggested a revived America’s Next Top Model could feature an AI-generated contestant. The idea remains speculative, but it reflects a broader question about what audiences are prepared to accept as entertainment.

Meanwhile, one of the internet’s stranger creations was an AI-generated version of Love Island featuring animated fruit. On paper, the concept sounds ridiculous. Yet viewers happily watched bananas flirt, strawberries argue and avocados form relationships, reacting to the characters much as they would any other reality television contestants.

Elsewhere, AI influencers continue to attract followers, sponsorships and lively comment sections. People defend them, criticise them and debate their personalities despite knowing they don’t exist.

Some uses are far more serious. In Iran, where women are banned from singing solo in public, musician Mehr created an AI-generated singer called Nava to represent voices that have been silenced. Unlike a human performer, a virtual singer cannot be arrested. Nava now has social media accounts, collaborates with musicians and is expected to appear as a hologram performer at concerts outside Iran.

Even researchers are exploring what happens when artificial personalities interact with each other. Experimental “AI zoos” allow multiple AI systems to converse, debate philosophy, write poetry and exhibit unexpected behaviours as scientists observe what emerges.

Viewed individually, these stories seem unrelated. Taken together, they suggest AI is beginning to appear in a very different role. Rather than simply answering questions or generating content, it is increasingly appearing as contestants, performers, influencers and public figures.

For years, we have asked what AI can do. Increasingly, we may also need to ask what role we are prepared for it to play in our culture.