Science & Tech

Influencer flooded with invites to Coachella and makes $15k per month - but there's a catch

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An Australian, Miami-based influencer has reportedly been receiving "hundreds" of messages to meet up with followers at Coachella this weekend as weekend two of the festival sees the creator crowd flock to Palm Springs.

Lady Gaga, Travis Scott, and Post Malone will once again take to the Coachella Stage for headline performances across the weekend, and tickets for the festival are notoriously hard to get.

That is, except, if you're Nikki Bellini, who boasts almost 350,000 followers on Instagram and regularly rakes in $15,000 per month on subscription creator platform, Fanvue.

But, despite the tempting offer, you definitely won't see her walking around Indio Valley, as she's actually created through artificial intelligence.

Influencer flooded with invites to Coachella and makes $15k per month - but there's a catch Influencer flooded with invites to Coachella and makes $15k per month - but there's a catch

Her profile was launched in January, and regularly posts realistic-looking selfies from around the globe, so while she could appear to be at Coachella - all of the images are totally computer-generated.

“Nikki’s DMs have been flooded in the past couple of weeks. Getting invites to meet up is a regular occurrence but with Coachella Weekend 2 coming up - and hundreds of the biggest celebs and influencers expected to attend - her messages have exploded", her creator, Nicole, says, adding: "Its not just men. Girls have also sent DMs asking to meet for a drink, to get ready with them or to dance. It’s wild.”

What's more, there's now questions about whether there's a market for AI-generated influencers taking on brand deals rather than real people, especially in a world where so many people want to become full-time content creators.

Head of AI at Fanvue, James Thompson says:“In the past 12 months we’ve seen innovative brands across music, fashion and sport partner with AI Influencers - and help their creators earn thousands in the process.

"Take Aitana Lopez, one of the world’s biggest AI Influencers with over 350k followers on Instagram. She’s fronted an ad campaign for Spanish brand Llongueras in Times Square, and regularly promotes brands online.

"Real life and digital influencers are crossing over more and more, and we can expect AI Influencers to “show up” on their socials at events like Coachella.”

But will Nikki’s fans be disappointed at not meeting her in person at the festival? Nicole doesn’t think so, adding:

“While Nikki can’t be physically at the event, she can still talk to fans on her Fanvue account and Instagram, talk about the music, the best acts to follow, where to eat.

"Nikki will be Coachella-goers' digital pal throughout the festival and it’s a full time job responding to her fans - in fact fans will get closer to, and have more interaction with Nikki than a celeb."

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