BCC: Humans, unite!

An army of A.I. influencers is coming for middle-aged women

Hi,

You are probably already aware that much of the content people share online is edited to tell a specific story. We’re accustomed to the idea that people post their best angles, and probably use the Paris filter. And we know that just beyond the frame of a cute mirror selfie, there’s likely a pile of clothing that didn’t make the crop.

When tempted to compare ourselves to strangers who appear to be more fit, fashionable, or funded than we are, we might remind ourselves: Hey, those people probably have problems too. We’re all human, after all.

Except more and more often, that’s not the case. A.I.-manufactured influencers pretending to be humans are storming social media — and they’re coming for middle-aged women.

Earlier this month, Robin Levine Shobin, who writes candidly about plastic surgery, beauty, and wellness for her Substack, Charlotte’s Book, revealed that she’d been temporarily fooled by an A.I. creation posing as a 57-year-old influencer called Isabelle Santos, who promised to share the secrets of a post-separation glow-up. (Of course, you need only click on her Amazon links.)

Meet All The Middle Aged Women Who Don't Exist

Cheryl Wischhover also wrote recently about being similarly targeted by a slew of “uncanny valley A.I. Baby Boomers … with names like Carol and Evelyn”:

They seem to fall within two broad tropes: “sexy, gold-digging septuagenarian” or “badass, sweary–yet-wise sage.” I started asking myself questions like, What does this mean for society? and, What does this tell us about people’s perception of aging? But then I realized the right question is, “What are they selling?”

Really, it’s a good question of anyone you’re following online, humans included. Of course, there are plenty of real people online peddling snake oil.

But there are also many mid-life women, especially here on Substack, selling hard-earned perspectives and well-researched advice about topics including work, fashion, beauty, and health.¹

Here is just a handful of our favorite human voices — all of whom have been living in human bodies for 40+ years! — in addition to the aforementioned Robin Levine Shobin and Cheryl Wischhover: Jean Godfrey June and Marisa Meltzer on beauty; Andrea Linett, Becky Malinsky, Neelam Ahooja, Marlien Rentmeester, Aurora James, and Joyce Lee on shopping and style; Jen Gunter, Celia Chen, Anja Tyson, and Mia Rigden (a mere baby, at just 40) on well-being and nutrition; Simi Sistani on work; Sari Botton’s Oldster Magazine on aging, and Joanna Godard on, well, all of it.²

This list, of course, is by no means comprehensive. Please share your favorites in the comments too. Onward, humans!

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• One more human for the list. We greatly enjoyed stumbling upon this interview with 54-year-old “accidental influencer” Larissa Mills, which offers an interesting window into the workday of a smart, likable, grownup influencer.
  

• He did his best. Watching Zendaya’s makeup artist apply what might be considered an unhinged quantity of blush to his own face was oddly relaxing, and looked beautiful in the end. We’re trying something similar to Ernesto and Zendaya’s sunburned glow with Counter’s Terracotta Cheeky Clean Cream Blush and Glow First Serum Primer.

• It gets dark. For the New Yorker, Jia Tolentino wrote an exhaustive essay about the ongoing escalation of “Instagram face” via plastic surgery. It’s a lot to take in, but manages to synthesize several ideas within this ongoing cultural conversation.
  

• “Come to the beach and get your blephs out for the lads.” Irish comedian Kyla Cobbler on the options women have in addition to surgically reshaping their eyelids, also known as blepharoplasty, made us laugh out loud.

• Listen to an editor’s editor on “billionaire skin" and more. Fat Mascara’s Jessica Matlin interviewed Air Mail beauty editor and industry veteran Linda Wells about facelift inflation, why “aging gracefully” is a trap, and Jeff Bezos’ glow-up in an energetic, candid conversation.

Gregg this week shared her before-and-after of her quick, glowy, no-makeup makeup for a summer afternoon, and linked everything she used here.

1. This particular Substack is 100% human-generated and funded by Counter.

2. These categories are loose — many, if not all, of these women are polymaths and their newsletters are accordingly multifaceted.