Synthetic performers on Instagram are reproducing successful stand-up routines and directing viewers toward adult subscriptions. WIRED identified eight affected comics, including performers who described copied hesitations, clothing and backdrops. Complaints have met uneven responses: some posts gained AI labels, one video was deleted, and the identified accounts remained on the platform.
Julia Jasunas says an Instagram performer called Aylen Skye copied her joke down to its hesitations. She complained of impersonation, but says Meta concluded the persona did not claim to be Jasunas and left it in place. The synthetic persona directed viewers toward adult subscriptions through an external website. AI labels now appear on most individual Skye posts. The account has no equivalent overall label.[1]
WIRED identified eight comics whose videos were replicated by synthetic female performers. Mandy Martino also described one of her jokes appearing in Skye’s material, while Since June, Steph Clark has been collecting examples of such copying. Some accounts follow each other and use already successful stand-up clips. Some also distribute fabricated television interviews alongside copied routines.[1]
George Brett Olson posted a side-by-side comparison on October 3 with a Tiffany Sloane video that resembled his routine, clothing and backdrop. He says the account later apologised and deleted the clip.[1]
Instagram head Adam Mosseri called a blanket ban on AI content impractical and said the platform should examine wholesale copying. Meta spokesperson Francis Brennan referred further questions to that statement. The identified accounts all remained on Instagram. Neither Skye nor Sloane answered WIRED’s questions.[1]
