In episode four of the comedy show Mythic Quest, the creators of a hit video game try to find a replacement for the 14-year-old streamer who stops endorsing their game. One solution? Aiko, a 3-D model who “never ages or gets a better offer.” Brad, who is in charge of monetization for Mythic Quest, is behind the suggestion. He calls Aiko “the future of the streaming hustle.” No need to find the perfect person; the model can be whoever he wants her to be. “Aiko is happy!” the obviously computerized model cries out in a canned, fake voice.
The episode aired in 2020. The 3-D model suggestion was part of the comedy. But now, in 2026, it’s become a reality. As covered in the New York Times: from podcasts to fashion marketing, creative studios are embracing AI superstars. Andreea Petrescu, co-founder of the London-based AI marketing agency Seraphinne Vallora, sounds remarkably similar to Brad when she describes the appeal of AI models for high-profile apparel brands:
With real models, the problem is they are the face of so many different brands, and anything that they do can affect your brand ... With A.I., it’s like a clean slate: You can design it the way you want, she can be as gorgeous as you want, and she’s all yours.
And unlike in the 2020s world of Mythic Quest Season 1, there are no canned voices or computerized giveaways. Scrolling through the images of AI personas from the company Inception Point AI, I’m struck by how genuine they look. The company did their work well: each of these people seems approachable, charismatic, and appealing. My brain knows they are AIs, but my nervous system doesn’t. It’s genuinely unsettling.
Inception Point makes AI content creators designed to fill specific niches. Those automated creators then produce tons of niche media. The company “made headlines last fall for its flood-the-zone podcast strategy, which involved maintaining more than 5,000 active shows and posting thousands of predominantly A.I.-generated episodes per week.” According to the company’s chief executive, Jeanine Wright, the costs are so low that an episode will be profitable as long as it gets at least twenty listeners.
Even factoring in some AI backlash, that seems easy to accomplish. There are certainly people who find AI personalities entertaining, as is evidenced by the success of AI music stars and other AI personas. Wright also seems to think the niche content they are able to produce is key, saying “As long as people like the content, we think they’ll accept that it comes from A.I.”
Much as I’d like to disagree, I think she may have a point. I could easily imagine being told:
“I found this new podcast on heirloom tomatoes. It’s actually an AI, which is kind of weird, but I found it really helpful for gardening...”
And seeing as the company has likely designed the persona to be just the right fit for its target market, I can also imagine that new listener coming back for more.
Note: It seems Inception Point has now become Liquify AI.
The analyses and opinions expressed on AI StopWatch reflect the views of the individual contributors and the sources they cover, and should not be taken as official positions of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute.