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\n\t\tAyushi Anand is \u2018India\u2019s first synth human\u2019, according to her Instagram (Picture: Ayushi Anand)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tAyushi Anand is \u2018India\u2019s first synth human\u2019, according to her Instagram (Picture: Ayushi Anand)<\/p>\n
We all wish we could be in two places at once. One of us clocks in at work<\/a>, while the other does the laundry and finally sees the dentist.<\/p>\n But for Ayushi Anand<\/a>, a filmmaker in Mumbai<\/a>, India<\/a>, this is her reality.<\/p>\n Ayushi, 35, created an AI <\/a>clone of herself that is now a fashion icon and film star, raking in thousands of pounds a month.<\/p>\n She shares her social media<\/a> accounts with her artificial avatar<\/a>, with the pair having 16,600 Instagram followers<\/a> and hundreds of LinkedIn<\/a> connections.<\/p>\n Ayushi (the flesh and bones one) has been on Instagram <\/a>for more than a decade. <\/p>\n Her feed was once filled with <\/a>grainy photos of family holidays<\/a>, modelling photoshoots <\/a>and #photooftheday sunrises<\/a>. <\/p>\n Now, her page is her AI double going for cocktails \u2018with the gals<\/a>\u2019, making breakfast <\/a>or beaming that ChatGPT has generated new hairstyles<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018There\u2019s literally nothing you don\u2019t look great in \ud83d\ude31\ud83d\ude0d\ud83e\udd29\u2728\u2728,\u2019 said one of Ayushi\u2019s followers, while one said it\u2019s \u2018unbelievable<\/a>\u2019 that the content is AI.<\/p>\n \u2018I like to say I\u2019m a \u201csynth human\u201d,\u2019 the co-founder of Kalpanik Films<\/a>, a creative studio in the Mumbai suburb, Andheri West, tells Metro.<\/p>\n \u2018For myself, it was the ultimate way to live our company motto: a seamless blend of AI and human innovation.\u2019<\/p>\n And it\u2019s proved to be a successful formula. The avatar was voted \u2018AI Personality of the Year\u2019 in April, with users congratulating the model and saying how \u2018proud<\/a>\u2019 they are.<\/p>\n Now and then, though, Ayushi uploads photos of her physical self, speaking at conferences or wishing colleagues happy birthday. <\/p>\n \u2018I have a pulse \u2013 but my digital twin does the heavy lifting\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t\t \t\t\t Ayushi coded a phoney twin to help prevent burnout, says Vishal Yoman, Kalpanik Films CEO.<\/p>\n The team uploaded high-resolution images of Ayushi pulling expressions or showing the angles of her face to the storytelling AI tool, OpenART.<\/p>\n They make the content glossy using the studio\u2019s film post-production tools, while using software to clone Ayushi\u2019s voice so the avatar can speak. <\/p>\n Kalpanik Films had already manufactured two AI influencers, Ira Somani <\/a>(a \u2018digital soul\u2019 bringing \u2018IRL vibes\u2019) and Mantrika Krishna <\/a>(its Instagram bio says it can \u2018talk, listen & see\u2019).<\/p>\n For Ira and Mantrika, the studio created \u2018bibles\u2019 describing the persona\u2019s appearance<\/a>, personality, childhood, family tree and worldview. <\/p>\n Yet Ayushi\u2019s character uses her human counterpart\u2019s memories, identifying patterns in it to generate text that sounds like Ayushi said it.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018If her avatar is interacting with people online, it doesn\u2019t sound like a generic chatbot because it\u2019s trained directly on her syntax, her actual movie preferences and her real-life journey as a female tech founder in India,\u2019 adds Yoman.<\/p>\n Ayushi splits her workload with her photorealistic\u00a0twin, which acts as a brand ambassador and models the latest image-generation upgrades. <\/p>\n The \u2018hybrid\u2019 account makes up to \u00a36,600 a month from brand collaborations and bringing in new clients. <\/p>\n \u2018While I have a real pulse,\u2019 the non-AI Ayushi says, \u2018I also have a digital twin that does a lot of the heavy lifting.\u2019<\/p>\n Most people can\u2019t tell if a person is real or fake, experts say<\/p>\n More than one in two social media users <\/a>follow a computer-generated influencer. <\/p>\n Users are three times more likely to engage with them than humans, according to VirtualHumans<\/a>, an AI influencer directory. <\/p>\n That is, if they even realise they\u2019re following a bot. Two in three can\u2019t tell an AI-generated face from a real one, experts previously told Metro<\/a>, while a recent study<\/a> found people similarly struggle with AI-generated text.<\/p>\n AI accounts are amassing millions of followers and making just as many pounds, according to a report<\/a>\u00a0by the creation platform Kapwing.<\/p>\n Many of them \u2013 or rather, the companies behind them<\/a> \u2013 embrace the unrealness. Ayushi\u2019s account, for example, is listed as an \u2018AI generated profile\u2019. <\/p>\n Plus, it\u2019s not hard to guess; Ayushi\u2019s replica is in a US diner<\/a> one day and Paris <\/a>the next. <\/p>\n But not all AI personalities are as upfront, which worries Jake Moore, a global cybersecurity advisor at the software firm ESET.<\/p>\n Some synthetic influencers pretend to be real customers to peddle janky supplements<\/a>, scam apps or products <\/a>that don\u2019t even exist. <\/p>\n Moore says users now need to not only check if the product they\u2019re buying is real, but the person selling it, too.<\/p>\n \u2018Algorithms tend to reward content that performs well, not necessarily content that is honest,\u2019 says Moore. <\/p>\n \u2018As we enter a world where the person recommending a product may not even exist, it makes it difficult for people to know what is genuinely authentic.\u2019<\/p>\n Brands aren\u2019t prohibited from posting AI-generated promotional content without disclosing it, the UK Advertising Standards Authority told Metro.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018Our existing rules could require disclosure where an AI influencer is presented as a real person, if this creates a misleading impression,\u2019 the regulator said.<\/p>\n \u2018Ultimately, the issue we would look at is whether the ad itself is misleading, rather than the use of AI being inherently problematic.\u2019<\/p>\n Ayushi agrees. She feels no shame at having \u2018India\u2019s first synth human\u2019 in her bio or sharing the prompts <\/a>\u2013 instructions to AI models \u2013 that generate the images of her artificial twin.<\/p>\n \u2018This is a completely new wave of work and the audience respects the craft and the technology much more when you are honest about it,\u2019 Ayushi says.<\/p>\n \u2018There\u2019s no need to hide the tech when the tech itself is the art.\u2019<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow \t\t\tComments \t\t\t\tAdd as preferred source \t\t\t\tNews Updates<\/p>\n Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_310244345-f15a-e1788262076117.jpg\")
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\n\t\tNon-AI Ayushi (right) uses her AI replica for work (Picture: Ayushi Anand)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_310244353-8fb0.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe AI model also, well, models (Picture: Ayushi Anand)<\/p>\n
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