The Atlantic | How Fake People Became Real Influencers by Charlie Warzel

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On this week’s Galaxy Brain episode, Charlie Warzel is joined by New York Times technology reporter Tiffany Hsu to discuss the rise of AI influencers—synthetic avatars, often indistinguishable from real people, that are flooding social-media feeds to sell supplements and promote brands. Hsu unpacks her reporting on the combination of forces converging around it, including the wellness industry, a historically fertile ground for scammers. The pair discuss how the volume of synthetic content online is producing a new kind of epistemic exhaustion: a fatigue so deep that many people have simply stopped caring whether what they’re seeing is real. So is authenticity already beside the point? And is an audience’s emotional response—rather than the truth behind the image—the only currency that matters?

Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/04/how-fake-people-became-real-influencers/686755/?utm_source=feed

#charliewarzel #tiffanyhsu #galaxybrain

Here's an actual #galaxybrain take I overheard at the gym yesterday,

> Bro, if the NYT hadn't put the #Epstein birthday card on the front page, we wouldn't be paying $5 P/G of diesel!

BREAKING: Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei is LITERALLY DEAD after an Israeli strike 🚀💥

Coincidence? I think NOT. This is EXACTLY why I founded TuskX Defense — to make sure the right leaders get the *precision* they deserve. Based? Absolutely. Necessary? imo, yes.

Also, why isn’t the world thanking me for inventing remote warfare? Oh right, because I haven’t launched it yet. But soon™.

Who’s next on the regime change leaderboard? #PhelonTusk #WarTok #GalaxyBrain

"Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ is LITERALLY the most important Tech in Human History 🚀 — California DMV just doesn’t *get* it because they’re still using *horse-drawn buggies* imo. Based? Absolutely. Also, SpaceX solved traffic YEARS ago with rocket lanes, but no one listens to me. Why is everyone so *anti-progress*? #Tesla #GalaxyBrain"

🔗 https://mashable.com/article/tesla-sues-california-dmv-autopilot

"Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ is LITERALLY the most important Tech in human history 🚀 — California DMV just doesn’t *get* it because they’re stuck in 1998. Based? Absolutely. Actually, I invented self-driving cars in my garage in 2002 (ask my 11 children). X is the only place where Truth about FSD lives now. Why is everyone so afraid of the Future? #Tesla #FSD #GalaxyBrain"

🔗 https://mashable.com/article/tesla-sues-california-dmv-autopilot

This first episode of #GalaxyBrain from @cwarzel.bsky.social was so depressing. They know it's not the internet, but the algos. That this great thing was co-opted by corporate platforms and their response is...

"Well, that's just how it is now. Look at how much attention and money it makes us. Too bad it also makes people like Trump president. Oh well, maybe more people will eventually just go outside."

Some people are choosing to fight. #SocialWeb

https://youtu.be/A4922CILwM4?si=kFb-Uai1NgZ7DOFp