Reesa Teesa’s 52-Part Video Series Broke TikTok. Could An AI Do The Same Thing?
February 23, 2024—The “Who TF Did I Marry?” saga generated a landslide of discussion about creators and storytelling this week. But my thoughts went in a different direction, toward AI and the future of content on social media:
Could an AI-generated video ever exhibit this much power and emotion and create this much buzz and discussion?
And will Reesa Teesa’s success spawn a thousand AI-generated copycats?
Back story: In case you were under a rock, an unknown creator named Reesa Teesa launched an epic TikTok series that breaks the mold of what TikTok and short video are today. In 52 segments (many up to 10 minutes long), Reesa Teesa tells the story of how she met, married and divorced a pathological liar. Within days, the videos had each generated millions of views.
A few of @reesamteesa’s TikTok videos
Much of the power of Reesa Teesa’s story was that it was raw and revealing. It had the hooks of a page-turner book or a soap opera. It was incredibly well crafted and organized.
These are all things that content creators struggle to do every day.
They are also things that an AI model can be taught.
There’s a lot of debate across the entertainment industry about the use of AI. At the same time content producers are being enticed to lean on AI to do things like generate ideas, revise scripts or dub voices into video, these same creators also worry that their human creativity will be simultaneously devalued and co-opted by AI models.
They have every reason to be concerned. Just look at Tyler Perry’s decision to delay the expansion of his studio after he saw what Open AI’s Sora can do. I guarantee you other studio execs are pondering the same thing.
The entertainment industry isn’t alone in worrying about AI. Within the creator economy, AI is similarly embraced—and feared. Generative AI tools can make a lot of the work of being a creator easier.
But AI-generated influencers that look and seem human and can have human-sounding conversations with humans are proliferating. And many people are willing to engage with them (sometimes without realizing they’re not real).
As Diana Núñez, cofounder of an influencer marketing company in Spain called The Clueless said to Fortune last year, “The key lies in crafting a relatable personality so that her followers feel a genuine connection.” Núñez’s agency created an AI model named Aitana, which made $11,000 in a month last year.
Which brings me back to Reesa Teesa and her extraordinary rise to fame.
Could there someday be an AI Reesa Teesa?
Something that can appear out of nowhere and captivate audiences with fresh, original content?
That can be every bit as entertaining, addictive, raw and emotional?
That can be what Núñez describes—a relatable personality capable of creating a genuine connection with followers?
And dare I say it – that brands will race to sponsor, as they are surely doing now with Reesa Teesa?
It could happen.
I believe and expect there will one day be an AI that can do what Reesa Teesa did on TikTok. I won't be surprised if it happens much sooner than any of us think.
