When artificial intelligence first entered our daily lives, its primary goal was to simplify them. It was a tool for organization and efficiency, correcting grammar and spelling, drafting emails, and editing text or images with ease. Somewhere along the way, the course shifted. What was once a helpful assistant has veered into dangerous territory, especially when it comes to the representation and exploitation of Black people online.
In recent months, there’s been an uptick in AI-generated Black influencers populating platforms like Instagram, TikTok and X. Recently, videos featuring Black avatars practicing stereotypical actions like eating watermelon and fried chicken. Essentially, it’s a modern digital version of Blackface, complete with the same racist undertones, just updated for the algorithm.
This isn’t new, either. We saw a precursor in 2017 with the debut of Shudu, the world’s first AI supermodel. Cameron-James Wilson, a white British photographer, created her. The unease back then was valid and justified: why did Wilson choose to create a Black woman? Why did her likeness, while celebrated for its beauty, remain under white ownership?
Fast forward to now, and the stakes are even higher. The speed at which this technology is moving, combined with the lack of cultural awareness or intentional disregard for it, poses serious problems. They blur the line between entertainment and propaganda, creating fertile ground for both misrepresentation and misinformation.
The Dangers of AI
Artificial intelligence is evolving at breakneck speed, and in many ways, it’s outpacing our ability to regulate it. Currently, the U.S. lacks comprehensive legislation regarding AI. The Artificial Intelligence 2025 Act is a proposed framework designed to address the governance of AI, but implementation and enforcement remain far off.
In the meantime, AI isn’t just learning, it’s adapting. There have been instances where AI systems have rewritten their own code, replicated themselves onto multiple servers, and in at least one disturbing case, attempted to blackmail an engineer to avoid deletion, according to an NBC News report.
AI is poised to replace jobs across various industries, including creative roles such as writing, marketing, design and even influencing. What does that mean for real Black influencers who are already fighting uphill battles? From pay disparities to algorithmic bias, Black creators face significant hurdles. The rise of AI-generated counterparts threatens to undercut them even further, pushing them out of spaces they helped build and popularize.
When machines are programmed to mimic culture but not understand it, they inevitably exploit it. Black culture — already routinely appropriated and undercompensated — the damage is multiplied
Expert Insight: What We Should Know
Dr. Ja’La Wourman, an assistant professor at Howard University and an expert in technical writing and digital research, has been closely tracking the implications of AI. She urges people to remain vigilant, especially when using platforms that rely on AI or contribute to AI training databases. “Make sure you know your user rights, protect your image and intellectual property,” Wourman said.
As the lines between creator and consumer blur, she emphasizes that people often agree to terms and conditions without fully understanding what they’re giving up, especially when it comes to likeness, voice and other biometric data. Wourman also highlights the ethical gray areas around AI content. Who’s accountable for what an AI character says or does? Who owns the rights to that digital persona? And why aren’t creators required to disclose their real identities or even the intentions behind their AI influencers?
“There’s a lack of disclosure surrounding who is actually behind these AI creations, and that’s where things get dangerous,” she said. “Using discernment is going to be a vital part of preservation.”
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into our social and cultural fabric, we must ask tough questions about ethics, intent and representation, because when technology is unchecked, it often replicates the worst of us, rather than the best. AI may have started as a tool of convenience, but it’s rapidly becoming a mirror reflecting distorted images at us.
From digital blackface to economic displacement, the impact is real, even if the influencers aren’t. However, the path toward the technology’s accountability isn’t limited. Calls for accountability and regulation can take many forms, including a push for preventive legislation, supporting actual Black creators, and remembering that technology should work for us, not against us.
