AI creators may be coming to TikTok

AI avatars are taking over social media, and TikTok doesn’t want to be left behind.

ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is launching “V Project,” a new initiative that will bring AI-generated creator lookalikes to Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese counterpart.

V Project will allow human creators to create an AI version of themselves that can interact with fans 24/7, participate in group chats, reply to DMs, and host live streams. Basically, a version of you that never sleeps.

It sounds freaky, but almost all of the big social media companies are developing similar technology:

• Meta has technology that allows creators to create an AI version of themselves.

• Google wants to use its Gemini AI technology to turn YouTubers into chatbots.

• Snap has its infamous “My AI” chatbot.

• Douyin itself already has virtual avatars, with many of them hosting nonstop shopping live streams.

From the company's and creator's perspective, AI creators make a lot of sense. They are cheap. They don’t argue with you. They don’t get tired. And they are infinitely scalable. 

It’s a little bit hairier for the user, but even though these chatbots are nowhere near their final form, it appears that people already like them. For example, Character AI, a service that generates AI “characters,” has over 20 million monthly active users, and Luna, an AI influencer, has over 500,000 followers on TikTok and a cryptocurrency worth over $46 million. 

Bots already make up nearly half of all internet traffic. With how fast AI is developing, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them soon make up half of all internet content.