The Future Is Faceless

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Thinking of splurging this July 4th? Chances are, you’re not Gen Z. Shaped by the pandemic, higher rents, and tighter budgets, this generation has become more financially cautious than most. Instead of spending big on holiday fun, many are funneling cash into retirement savings. Fireworks can wait — compound interest can’t.

Big brands are spending more on advertising via anonymous social media accounts.

The Full-Page Ad: Also known as user-generated content (UGC) creators, faceless creators establish a brand identity by sharing memes and content. They’re often very young, attending college or even high school, and leverage algorithms to reach a broad viewer base without having to cultivate a loyal following.

Between the Banners: The network of active faceless creators has grown rapidly in recent months, along with demand for their services.

The Footer: In terms of human appeal, faceless creators can circumvent the “ick” many people get from watching traditional influencers peddle products. What’s more, the practice enables people to make money without risking the potential psychological harm that comes from putting themselves in the spotlight.

Prediction: UGC creators have grown far more popular as AI has made it easier to run these accounts, which can probably already be entirely run by AI. Expect this practice to continue growing in step with the expansion of AI-generated content and to receive more scrutiny as a result — especially since social media accounts are becoming Americans’ primary source of news.

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The Velvet Sundown currently has 400,000 monthly listeners and “debuted” less than a month ago.

The Big Picture: The band is described as a psych-rock group composed of four men. However, no evidence of the members’ existence can be found on the internet, and their content appears to be AI-generated.

Between the Lines: The band released two albums last month, on June 5 and June 20.

Conclusion: With AI-generated music on the rise, some analysts project that musicians will lose up to a quarter of their income and work opportunities to AI-generated music.

Prediction: A lot of people hate this. But the first ones to do something about it won’t be music consumers — they’ll be established pop stars who have already come out against AI-generated music, like Dua Lipa, Elton John, and others. Prepare for some lawsuits against AI music tools or music hosting services.

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58.6% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Have you ever experienced identity theft?

“I consider myself lucky in this regard.”

“Not personally, but the company I worked for was hacked. They had to get a whole new computer system. It was a very difficult time for the company.”

“I experienced this in 2002, and I still have remnants haunting me to this day. I actually tracked down the person and reported it to the police. They did nothing! It’s a helpless feeling, and it’s a lot of work to clear it up — if you can. Good luck to anyone who has this happen to them.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

🤖 When Anthropic’s Claude AI was instructed to operate a vending machine, it called security, gaslit users, and started selling tungsten cubes.

💰 In a few years, AI just might raid the corporate raiders.

⚡ Ford’s CEO is amazed and humbled by China’s electric vehicles.

🤼‍♀️ TikTok teams up with Sukeban, the Japanese female pro-wrestling league, for this year’s Anime Expo.

🎵 Music festivals are getting more expensive to host and attend, and smaller ones are struggling.

🥎 Speaking of costly entertainment, attending or even streaming sports games has gotten so expensive that few can afford to be fans.

⛪ Exhausted by the internet and dating apps, Gen Z women are booking out convents.

😥 Young people are “crashing out,” and they’re not embarrassed about it.

📉 While consumers tighten their belts, brands try to sell through uncertainty.