This AI Grandma Is Going Viral. Is She the Future of Influencing? [VERTICAL]

TIME

Over the past four months, millions of people have enjoyed the uproarious life advice dispensed by Granny Spills, an influencer wearing all-pink designer suits, on TikTok and Instagram. “Flowers die, honey. My Chanel bags are forever,” she says in one video that was liked nearly a million times.  But Granny Spills is not a real person. She is an AI creation, generated by two twenty-something content creators who hope to use her persona to get clicks and nab brand deals. Because AI video tools like Veo 3, Sora 2, and Seedance now create people that are virtually indistinguishable from real ones, some creators see a business opportunity: to forge a new generation of synthetic influencers that might be even more effective at selling things than real people.

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00:00He said, you'll never find someone like me. I said, exactly, baby, therapy's expensive.

00:05This is Granny Spills, a social media influencer who has garnered millions of likes over the last

00:10few months for her biting relationship advice. Why does he only text me after 10 p.m.? Because

00:15you're a booty call, not a priority. But she's not a human. Granny was created with AI tools

00:21by two content creators, and she's one in a growing number of AI influencers being created

00:27for clicks and brand deals. AI tools like Sora 2 and VO3 now allow the creation of fake people

00:34that are basically indistinguishable from real ones. Creators hope that these influencers

00:38might be even more effective at selling stuff than real people. So to explore this phenomenon,

00:44I decided to go right to the source and interview Granny herself, or I guess itself. So Granny,

00:51who are you?

00:51Oh honey, I'm Granny Spills. Artificially intelligent, emotionally unavailable,

00:56and proudly powered by pixels and pettiness. Think of me as the grandmother you wish you had.

01:02The one with a pink Bugatti, zero filter, and investment portfolio that makes grown men cry.

01:07Who are your creators, and why did they make you?

01:10My creators at Blur Studios built me to show that AI can be entertaining, engaging, and brutally honest,

01:16while looking fabulous doing so. Exist to entertain, empower, and occasionally traumatize men

01:22who think you up is an acceptable text at 2 a.m.

01:26Okay, well, why do you think that you and other synthetic influencers are the future of social media?

01:34We're the future because we can engage with millions of people authentically while maintaining

01:40our brand. We're available 24-7. We never have a bad hair day, and we can't be canceled for

01:46something we tweeted in 2012. What do you say to the accusations that you're taking jobs from real

01:52grannies or other real influencers? Listen, sweetheart, real grannies are busy baking cookies

01:58and pretending their grandchildren are perfect angels. I'm out here telling women to launch broke

02:05men into orbit and block the spaceship. We're not in the same lane.

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