TikTok Launches AI Influencers: Virtual Avatars for Showcasing Products

TikTok has unveiled an expansion of its AI advertising platform Symphony, which now allows brands to create content featuring virtual avatars that mimic real influencers. This technology represents a major shift in influencer marketing, with artificial intelligence capable of generating realistic characters that can present products in a similar way to human content creators.

The Symphony platform was originally launched in 2024 as an AI advertising tool, but its latest features significantly expand its automation capabilities. Advertisers can now upload images, enter a text description, and generate videos featuring virtual avatars holding products, trying on clothes, or demonstrating apps on a phone screen. These advanced features also include "Text to Video" and "Image to Video" tools, enabling the rapid creation of professional-looking content.

New Opportunities for Advertisers

Virtual avatars on the Symphony platform can perform a wide range of activities typical of human influencers. They can physically hold products, model clothing and accessories, and use and explain apps, all in multiple languages thanks to AI dubbing. This allows brands to produce dozens of customized videos per day and adapt content for different target audiences or language versions with minimal effort. According to TikTok's official documentation, Czech is not currently included in the list of supported languages. TikTok may expand language support in the future, but no specific date or plan for adding Czech has yet been announced. 

The main advantage for advertisers is eliminating the need to negotiate with real influencers, which significantly reduces both costs and production times. While working with human content creators can take days or weeks and requires complex contract negotiations, AI avatars can be deployed immediately and scaled according to campaign needs.

Impact on Traditional Influencer Marketing

According to a 2024 study, influencer marketing has a strong impact on consumer behavior—74% of consumers have purchased a product based on an influencer's recommendation, and 66% of Generation Z members check reviews on social media before making a purchase. The question remains whether virtual avatars can build the same level of trust and authenticity as real human influencers.

AI poses a twofold potential threat to human influencers. Synthetic content can be used instead of human work, and the influx of AI-generated videos may reduce fees for all content creators. So far, AI tools have been used primarily behind the scenes—content creators report using them to edit and schedule content or find business opportunities.

TikTok states that all content generated using its advertising tools will be labeled as AI-generated and undergo "several rounds of safety review." This measure is intended to ensure transparency for users and prevent consumers from potentially being misled.