Meet The AI Influencers Grifting Your Parents feat. Ej Dickson (Premium E345) Sample

Summary

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QAA Podcast: "Meet The AI Influencers Grifting Your Parents" feat. EJ Dickson (Premium E345) Sample

Date: July 19, 2026
Hosts: Jake Rakatansky, Julian Feeld, Travis View, Corey
Guest (later in full episode): EJ Dickson (Wired)

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the strange new world of AI-generated influencers and the ways they can be used to grift, scam, and deceive—especially targeting older, less tech-savvy social media users. The hosts discuss how AI is reshaping the influencer landscape, blurring lines of authenticity, and facilitating new (and familiar) types of online fraud. They tease upcoming segments on real-world scams involving AI personas and preview an in-depth interview with journalist EJ Dickson about the international pipeline of AI influencer creation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The QAA Podcast's Production Process & Scripting

• The hosts joke about the misconceptions some listeners have around the show's planning and scripting.
• [00:36] Jake Rakatansky: Explains the workflow: “...we find something we're interested in, and then somebody or, you know, a handful of people will tackle the script...”
• [00:57] Travis View: Reflects on the podcasting landscape: “...the act of planning ahead and giving a shit about the quality just sets you apart from the pack.”
• [01:08] Julian Feeld: Anecdote about public misunderstanding:
  "I was telling him... a host chooses a topic and then writes a script...and all he heard was script. And so he was immediately interrogating me, just saying, oh, it's so... It's scripted. Like, it's not even real."

This opener establishes the group’s emphasis on fact-based, thoughtfully produced content in a medium where off-the-cuff, unscripted shows dominate.

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2. Debating "Authenticity" in Podcasts and Influencer Culture

• The hosts riff on cliché-filled, meandering podcasts versus QAA’s focus on dense, edited episodes.
• Jokes about "crash and burn phrases" (“pretty sure,” “nailed it”) and the generational cringe gap.
• [03:33] Jake Rakatansky: “I call those crash and burns. Like mad libs for people who just, like, aren't funny.”

This segment sets up the main theme: the tension between genuine self-expression and performative/filtered content online.

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3. The AI Influencer Case: Chloe Clark

• [05:16] Travis View: Introduces “Chloe Clark,” a seemingly normal wedding tips Instagram influencer who’s actually an AI-generated character.

  • Describes how “Chloe” posts near-identical videos—sometimes changing race, gown, or venue—always pushing the Once app.
  • [06:13] Jake Rakatansky: Observes the absurdity: “Oh my God, she's changed race.”

• [06:18] Travis View: Points out the mass-production of influencer content via AI: "Chloe Clark is an AI entity, and the person running this account just used the same or a similar prompt in an AI video generator to produce dozens of videos to advertise the app."

• The team jokes about the repeated, formulaic emotional scenes, with Corey and Jake riffing on the “groom with many wives” running gag.

This story underscores how AI tools enable quick, cheap, and convincing digital personas—raising questions about authenticity, manipulation, and deception in influencer culture.

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4. Broader Trends: AI, Grifting & Online Performance

• Travis hints at what's coming in the full episode:

  • Influencers using AI trickery to promote dubious charities.
  • Dropshippers deploying dozens of AI-created personalities to sell junk.
  • A case study: A man in India creating a blonde, conservative AI influencer for an American MAGA audience.

• [08:10] Travis View: Ponders the meaning of "authenticity" online:

  • "Everyone who posts a lot on social media engages in some degree of filtering and performance... but it's understood that the selective presentation doesn't rise to the level of deceit."
  • Explains how all digital creators use enhancement tools—to smooth voices, fix writing, or hide flaws—blurring the line between normal curation and outright fakery.

• [09:05] Jake Rakatansky & Corey: Jokingly break the illusion by pretending to “remove the voice filter”—lampooning the idea that even podcast hosts’ voices are part of the performance.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [00:57] Travis View:
  “Podcasting is still such an immature medium that the act of planning ahead and giving a shit about the quality just sets you apart from the pack.”

• [01:44] Julian Feeld:
  “No matter what I said after that, I couldn't convince him we weren't just making shit up every time we started recording.”

• [06:13] Jake Rakatansky:
  “Oh my God, she's changed race.”

• [06:47] Travis View:
  “Chloe Clark is an AI entity, and the person running this account just used the same or a similar prompt in an AI video generator to produce dozens of videos to advertise the app.”

• [08:10] Travis View:
  “Working on this episode got me thinking a lot about the role of authenticity in one's online presence… writers, at minimum, use spelling and grammar checkers. Streamers use beauty filters… podcasters use plugins to make their voices sound more pleasant.”

• [09:09] Corey [mock horror at Jake's real voice]: “Put the filter back on, please, Corey.”

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Important Timestamps

• 00:36–01:42 — Behind-the-scenes on scripting and public perceptions of podcasts
• 05:16–06:47 — Unpacking the "Chloe Clark" AI influencer and how these personas are built
• 08:10–09:05 — Broader discussion about authenticity, performance, and digital enhancement

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Tone & Style

• The tone blends sharp skepticism, dry humor, and playful meta-commentary. The hosts employ banter and absurd jokes as a tool for critique, sustaining an irreverent but insightful take on the rise of AI grifting.

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Summary

This episode of QAA Podcast delivers a tongue-in-cheek, critical look at the new breed of AI influencers—digital personas set up to exploit social media’s emotional marketing, sometimes with little more than a prompt and a video generator. The hosts surface real-world cases (like “Chloe Clark”), probe what it means to be "authentic" online, and preview an interview with journalist EJ Dickson on the global marketplace of synthetic influencers. Through their trademark mix of reporting, banter, and meta-humor, the QAA hosts highlight the blurred boundaries between curation and deception, and warn listeners about how easily even a savvy audience can be fooled by today's technology.

Transcript

[Jake Rakatansky]

Okay, now we're recording.

[Julian Field]

I don't know.

[Jake Rakatansky]

That was so weird. How low can I go? His file pathway.

[Corey]

Well, that answers that question. Well, we got to the bottom of that one.

[Jake Rakatansky]

I'm always trying to push my body to the new limits. What tricks can I learn?

[Corey]

What's your pipes? Fucking hell. My connection's all fucked up. Only I breaking up for you guys?

[Jake Rakatansky]

Yeah, kind of.

[Corey]

God damn it.

[Jake Rakatansky]

This is what our show would sound like if we didn't, like, decide to write every episode out.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jake Rakatansky]

People still can't believe that when I tell it to them, like, they're like, so what is it? They're like, tell me, like, what's it, you know, what's your process like? And I'm like, well, first, like, we find something we're interested in, and then somebody or, you know, a handful of people will tackle the script, and it's like, you know, anywhere from, like, 15 to 30 pages. Like. And they were like, what?

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Travis View]

You know, I feel like podcasting is still such an immature medium that the act of planning ahead and giving a shit about the quality just sets you apart from the pack.

[Julian Field]

Yeah, that's funny. It reminds me of this time I was at a bar a while back with a friend and was talking to the guy next to me, and he asked me what I do. And so I was trying to explain the pod. This was before the rebrand, so I had to do the dance of, like, we cover QAnon, but we're not pro QAnon. So I think he figured out that we were not conservatives like he was, because then he started asking me about the process of making an episode and what goes into it. And so I was telling him that, like, a host choose a. Chooses a topic and then writes a script so that they can present it to the others and so that they can comment. And all he heard was script. And so he was immediately interrogating me, just saying, oh, it's so. It's scripted. Like, it's not even real. Like, you're just making it up.

[Jake Rakatansky]

How do you feel about that? Oh, my Lord.

[Julian Field]

Yeah. So then, yeah, no matter what I said after that, I couldn't convince him we weren't just making shit up every time we started recording.

[Corey]

That's so awesome. Yeah.

[Jake Rakatansky]

He was like, so it is scripted. You know what? That guy's probably going around, he's like, I met a boy, and he worked for one of them liberal podcasts. And I'll tell you something. You know what he told me? They write everything. It's all scripted.

[Travis View]

Think about it ahead of time. It's not. It's not off the dome.

[Jake Rakatansky]

They don't believe in anything. They write the script out before they. Before they Even. Before they even get on the air. Before they hit live. Before they hit the live button and record the podcast, you know? Can't believe it, man.

[Corey]

I listened to, like, imagine listening to, like, yeah, like, four hour interviews where the guys are like, jamie, pull that up and like, think, like, man, it would suck if this was a bit scripted.

[Travis View]

Even when they are scripted, they include so much of the bullshit in between. Stuff that's boring.

[Jake Rakatansky]

Tell me about it. I don't listen to any podcast.

[Corey]

Hours and hours of recording.

[Travis View]

Yeah, yeah, they're like four hour episodes. I was like, oh, man, this should be, like, really beefy. But it's like half content and half them kind of, like diddling around. And it's like.

[Corey]

It's just.

[Travis View]

It's just shit.

[Jake Rakatansky]

They're like, I don't know, man, like, kind of fudgeing weird. Like, maybe, you know, they use a lot of, like, crash and burn phrases. Like, pretty sure. Like, hey, I'm pretty sure.

[Travis View]

Yeah.

[Corey]

Pretty endless burn phrase.

[Travis View]

Like crash.

[Corey]

We've been recording this whole time.

[Travis View]

I know we have.

[Jake Rakatansky]

I think we should include this. Let's start going crash and burn phrases. It's like people who don't naturally have a sense of humor. They've picked up a couple phrases from like, like Judd Apatow movies or like, like, Ted. So that happened like. Yeah, yeah. That kind of like millennial cringe. Yeah, I guess that's what younger people call it now. But it's like, nailed it. You know, it's like, nailed it or

[Corey]

it is millennial craze. Like, and they are calling us that.

[Jake Rakatansky]

Well, I don't use any of those phrases. I call those crash and burns. Like mad libs. Like mad libs for people who just, like, aren't funny.

[Corey]

Yeah. Gen Z and the Alpha, they're celebrating Jake for never being cringe.

[Jake Rakatansky]

Oh, no, I know that because you say that. I know that that means actually the opposite and that I have. And that I have done something. Cringe.

[Corey]

Listen, dude, you either live old enough to see yourself get CR or die young.

[Jake Rakatansky]

I think I've always been cringe.

[Corey]

Yeah. I don't know if I've, like, necessarily associated that with you.

[Jake Rakatansky]

Cringe. Cringe. I think it is.

[Corey]

I guess that's that. You mean you have made, like, an album for your dog? I guess I can't deny that we get through this.

[Travis View]

We. We got. We're interviewing E.J. dixon in 55 minutes.

[Jake Rakatansky]

Okay. Okay. Now, for real, for real. We'll start the episode.

[Corey]

Let's do the clap, though.

[Jake Rakatansky]

Okay?

[Corey]

Three, two, two, one.

[Jake Rakatansky]

If you're hearing this, well done. You found a way to connect to the Internet. Welcome to the QAA podcast premium episode 345. Meet the AI influencers grifting your parents. Featuring EJ Dixon. As always, we are your hosts, Jake Rakatansky, Julian Field and Travis View.

[Travis View]

On Instagram, there's an account called Chloe Clark. The header photo appears to depict a young woman displaying a massive wedding ring on her finger. The profile says, sharing wedding tips and ideas and Once app ambassador. Once is a photo sharing app that supposedly allows guests at an event to take photos from their phone, which are then uploaded to a shared film role. It's normal for people to monetize their social media presence by advertising mobile apps, but if you browse through Chloe's Instagram reels, you might sense something is off. One photo shows Chloe inside an opulent venue dressed in a wedding gown, wiping away a tear for smiling at her handsome groom with the caption pov. You didn't listen to your friends who said no phones at weddings. Which of course leads to a pitch to the app. But if you scroll to another video, it's the same scene in a different setting. Bride wipes away her tears, smiles at the groom. Pitch for the app, but now it's outdoors. Scroll again. Same scene, but a different angle. And if you scroll back far enough.

[Jake Rakatansky]

Oh, my God, she's changed race.

[Corey]

Different bride. Oh, different bride.

[Travis View]

This man's been marrying people across a different bride. So same groom, same scene. Wipe away tears, look lovingly at groom.

[Jake Rakatansky]

Seems like this app can just get you a lot of wives.

[Corey]

Yeah, this guy's been wiping up women across the globe.

[Jake Rakatansky]

He's been wiping up tears. He's been wiping up his wives tears all over the world. He carries with him a cape full of tears, heavy with tears.

[Corey]

Listen, all she does is cry. Let's be honest. But she is very handsome.

[Travis View]

Chloe Clark is an AI entity, and the person running his account just used the same or a similar prompt in an AI video generator to produce dozens of videos to advertise the app. Now, this is one of a growing number of examples of how AI can be used to mimic traditional online influencers. Today we'll be talking about a few other examples, including a real influencer who used AI trickery to promote a dubious charity, and a dropshipper who used dozens of AI entities to sell overpriced junk. Later in the episode, we'll also speak to Wired reporter E.J. dixon, who has done a lot of great reporting on AI, including on how a man in northern India created a blonde, conservative AI influencer that attracted a large audience of MAGA men.

[Corey]

Oh. Oh, she's mine. Oh, oh. Get out of the way. That's how I imagine the large audience.

[Jake Rakatansky]

They're like, larry, some lady's calling for you on the phone.

[Travis View]

He's like, oh, for me?

[Jake Rakatansky]

And he puts the phone to his ear and it's like, beep, boop, beep, boop, beep, beep, beep, boop, beep. Cause it's not fucking real.

[Corey]

Because it's not real. Do you think that's how people in AI videos talk?

[Jake Rakatansky]

I mean, like, have you heard the. That's that. I think we actually clipped it on this show where the two AI like, agents basically realize they're talking to each other and they're like, ah, shall we speak to. Shall we switch to the mother language? It's like. And then they just start talking in, like, dial up sounds.

[Travis View]

Working on this episode got me thinking a lot about the role of authenticity in one's online presence. Because everyone who posts a lot on social media engages in some degree of filtering and performance, lifestyle influencers might share all the intimate details of their romantic family and financial life, but hide away from discussing their thoughts about politics and religion to, you know, not alienate certain audiences. Political influencers can bear all of their thoughts regarding about how, you know, society should be ordered and power should be used, but say nothing about their personal lives. But it's understood that the selective presentation doesn't rise to the level of deceit. And everyone who makes content takes advantage of some digital enhancement. Writers, at minimum, use spelling and grammar checkers. Streamers use beauty filters to smooth out imperfections, and podcasters use plugins to make their voices sound more pleasant. People often praise Jake's voice, but you may be surprised to learn that he sounds like he's gargling nails before Corey works his magic in editing.

[Jake Rakatansky]

Yeah, actually, when I talk some more. Whoa, whoa.

[Corey]

Put the filter back on, please, Corey.

[Jake Rakatansky]

Did you change it back?

[Corey]

Yeah. God, thank God. It's impossible to hear his original voice. It's horrible.

[Jake Rakatansky]

Almost like Krang esque. It's terrible. You've been listening to a sample of a premium episode of the QAA podcast. For access to the full episode, as well as all past premium episodes and all of our podcast miniseries, go to patreon.com QAA Travis why is that such a good deal?

[Travis View]

Well Jake, you get hundreds of additional episodes of the QAA podcast for just $5 per month. For that very low price you get access to over 200 premium episodes plus all of our miniseries. That includes 10 episodes of Man Plan with Julian the Nanny, 10 episodes of Perverts with Julian Liv, 10 episodes of the Spectral Voyager with Jake and Brad, plus 20 episodes of Trickle down with Me Travis View. It's a bounty of content and the best deal in podcasting.

[Corey]

Travis, for once I agree with you. And I also agree that people could subscribe by going to patreon.comqaa well that's

[Jake Rakatansky]

not an opinion, it's a fact.

[Corey]

You're so right Jake.

[Jake Rakatansky]

We love and appreciate all of our listeners.

[Corey]

Yes we do. And Travis is actually crying right now, I think out of gratitude.

[Travis View]

Maybe that's not true. The part about me crying. Not not me being grateful. I'm very grateful.

[Jake Rakatansky]

Sam.