YouTube's AI Avatars: Revolutionizing Creator Economy or Eroding Authenticity?

• YouTube has introduced AI-powered creator avatars and likeness tools, enabling creators to produce content without physical presence.
• This marks a structural shift, transforming creators into intellectual property and separating presence from production.
• YouTube is pushing AI due to attention saturation, creator burnout, and competition from platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
• AI avatars offer scalability and efficiency for creators, but risk making content interchangeable and intensifying competition.
• The Indian creator ecosystem, with its high AI adoption and language diversity, presents both opportunities for reach and risks of content dilution.

Why It Matters: YouTube's AI avatars offer efficiency and scale but raise concerns about authenticity and increased competition for creators.