{"podcast":{"title":"The Excerpt","slug":"the-excerpt-742145","podcast_index_feed_id":742145,"rss_url":"https://rss.art19.com/5-things","website_url":"https://art19.com/shows/5-things","image_url":"https://content.production.cdn.art19.com/images/29/c4/eb/f0/29c4ebf0-b5c3-4838-9e30-d92e8d15e76d/88497752e60324195a25c5bb3f28f051091ea2a3a998fa22473d99c272b7bc8e7e9910c488c26d289891c53191b78ca85d242efd540b5897a9977660eddd300e.jpeg","author":"USA TODAY","episode_count":90,"summary":"Get context, not just headlines. Every weekday The Excerpt brings USA TODAY's award-winning journalists from across the nation together to unpack America's most pressing stories — from politics and culture to sports and entertainment — with host Dana Taylor.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-29T18:20:13.139640+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-excerpt-742145"},"episode":{"title":"AI-generated influencers are here. Can you tell who’s real?","slug":"ai-generated-influencers-are-here-can-you-tell-who-s-real","published_at":"2026-04-27T09:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-excerpt-742145/ai-generated-influencers-are-here-can-you-tell-who-s-real","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-excerpt-742145","url":"https://rss.art19.com/episodes/6aa5757c-0b82-429d-b13c-473499d9b422.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0","audio_url":"https://rss.art19.com/episodes/6aa5757c-0b82-429d-b13c-473499d9b422.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0","summary":"Generative AI is making it easier than ever to create influencers who don’t actually exist. These synthetic personas can build audiences, promote products and even shape political conversations — often without people realizing they aren’t real. So what happens when influence itself can be engineered at scale? We sit down with Charlie Warzel, a staff writer at The Atlantic, who explains how AI-generated influencers are fueling a “volume game” online, why authenticity may matter less than we think and how this trend could deepen misinformation and political division. Plus, what to look for if you’re trying to spot who’s real — and who’s not — in your feed. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to  podcasts@usatoday.com .  Episode transcript  available here .  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .","meta_description":"Generative AI is making it easier than ever to create influencers who don’t actually exist. These synthetic personas can build audiences, promote products…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1090,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-excerpt-742145/episodes/ai-generated-influencers-are-here-can-you-tell-who-s-real/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-excerpt-742145/ai-generated-influencers-are-here-can-you-tell-who-s-real.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}