The influencer in this Vodafone ad isn't real (www.theverge.com)

While browsing TikTok in Germany, a reader spotted a Vodafone ad featuring a presenter who appears to be synthetically generated; Vodafone later confirmed in the video comments that it was “testing different styles of advertising — this time with AI,” noting that “AI is so much a part of everyday life these days.” Viewers flagged classic generative-media artifacts — odd hair movement, disappearing moles, and unnerving facial expressions — clues that the on-screen influencer was produced with generative AI rather than filmed live. Vodafone has experimented with fully AI-generated commercials before, and AI-crafted influencers like Lil’ Miquela have already been used by major brands. For the AI/ML community this highlights both opportunity and limits: synthetic presenters enable highly controllable, reusable talent for rapid, cost-effective campaigns, but current generative video/image models still produce temporal inconsistencies and identity flicker that trigger the uncanny valley. The episode underscores the need for better realism in motion and feature coherence, clearer disclosure standards, and tools to detect synthetic content. It also presses ethical questions around authenticity, consumer trust, and regulation as brands increasingly deploy AI-generated personas in mainstream advertising.