gshc2020.com

and

Dan Whateley

You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

2026-08-07T09:01:01.254Z

Ashton McGrady was horrified to discover that TikTok had slapped an "AI-generated" label on a post she'd made for Disability Pride Month.

The creator had spent hours making a collage of images, stickers, and advice.

"It was really jarring to me, because that's not something that I personally align with, and neither does my audience," McGrady told Business Insider. "The whole point of being a creator is to create myself." The post later had its AI note removed without explanation.

McGrady's upload was one of the billions that TikTok says it has flagged using a mix of human labeling and automated tools. McGrady said she had a similar experience with a different post on Meta-owned Instagram, too.

Platforms like TikTok and Instagram say AI labeling offers more transparency to viewers, but the inexact processes have led to misclassifications, seven creators say. Some platforms acknowledge they're not always accurate at spotting AI, using phrases like Meta's "likely created or modified with AI" to hedge. For creators, even the suggestion that they've published AI content can feel damaging to their reputations.

Gregory Littley, who frequently posts photography to his Instagram, said several of his posts — which include scans of physical Polaroids — say that the "content in this post may have been modified with AI."

"I cringe when I see that label," Littley said. "I cringe even more when I know it's not true."

These labels could have real consequences for creators in a time of intense AI backlash. It's particularly relevant in the $12 billion US influencer marketing industry, where authenticity and human connection are paramount. An AI hiccup can turn an audience against an influencer. YouTuber Hank Green, for example, recently apologized after coming under fire for using ChatGPT to help research a script.

"It's literally the Scarlet Letter," creator Lissette Calveiro said about AI labels and accusations of producing AI-assisted work. Some brands have begun adding stipulations in campaign briefs that creators can't use generative AI.

In recent weeks, AI has been thrust into the center of the creator conversation. Substack's CEO took a shot at AI-generated LinkedIn posts while debuting a new AI detection partnership. Days later, LinkedIn announced a button to flag suspected "AI slop." YouTube has been pulling down channels that host "low-quality" AI content, and Snapchat has made videos wholly generated by AI ineligible for recommendation in its short-form video feed, Spotlight.

Both openly using AI and promoting AI companies are increasingly seen as risky in creator economy circles. The concern is warranted. Influencers who attended a recent luxury retreat hosted by OpenAI faced immediate online backlash.

"There's a PR issue with AI as it relates to taking people's jobs and environmental concerns around data centers," said Eric Bogard, CEO of the talent firm UnderCurrent Management. "Creators are hesitant to promote AI companies as a result."

At the same time, there's no real path of purity as an influencer traversing content creation in 2026. Nearly every platform automatically uses or pushes AI tools, from Adobe Photoshop to TikTok's CapCut. In many ways, AI tools have helped creators balance the workload of managing their social media accounts and brand deals, as well as brainstorming.

Companies like OpenAI want creators to be more open about their use of AI.

Charles Porch, who OpenAI poached from Meta this year to lead creative partnerships, recently told Business Insider that part of his job is getting creators to "come out of the closet" about using AI.

"Whether creators choose to share how they use AI publicly is entirely up to them," an OpenAI spokesperson said.

AI's 'PR issue'

AI is infiltrating many aspects of modern life — and content creation is no exception.

A May survey of 16,000 creators conducted by Adobe, in partnership with The Harris Poll, found that 75% of creators who had used or tried creative AI described it as "integrated or essential to how they work."

Not all creators want to admit that publicly, though, lest they wear the AI "Scarlet Letter" on their chest.

YouTube creator Billy Yue, who goes by 8illy, isn't shying away from AI. He even made a promotional video for Anthropic's Claude in November. Still, the creator, who regularly features hand-drawn animation in his videos, added a disclosure at the end of his most recent YouTube upload that "no AI was used" in the production. He wanted fans to know that he'd drawn 1,800 illustrations for the project.

Broader public opinion is shifting, and creators feel it.

The influencer marketing agency Billion Dollar Boy found that the share of consumers who viewed generative AI as a "negative disruptor" increased from 18% in 2023 to 32% in 2025. Those who saw it as a "positive disruptor" declined from 34% to 31%. The firm surveyed 4,000 consumers ages 16 or older in the UK and the US.

"Part of this backlash is every platform is filled with slop," said Max Spero, CEO of AI detection startup Pangram. "It feels like the algorithms are shoving it in your face. It feels like it's harder and harder to find things made with craft by real people." Pangram recently partnered with Substack on an integration that detects whether — and how much — AI was used in writing newsletters and comments.

Concerns about "AI slop" have become a focus on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, which all have automated AI detection tools that help identify content that is either entirely AI-generated or substantially edited with AI.

Lawmakers have also gotten in the mix. The European Union and New York state recently developed laws requiring brands to inform viewers when AI-generated characters appear in ads.

AI labels aren't foolproof

As platforms have rushed to ramp up their AI labeling, creators like McGrady say they have become the victims of false positives.

Lindsey Lee Lugrin, a content creator and model, recently posted some paintings she had made by hand. However, her Instagram posts included a label that said they were "likely created or modified with AI."

In some instances, using popular editing tools like Canva or Adobe's Lightroom resulted in content on Instagram, Threads, and TikTok being flagged as potentially AI-generated.

While third-party platforms like Pangram can assist with AI identification, none are completely accurate. (Substack added options in its AI detection feature for creators to dispute a Pangram assessment, explain how and why they used AI, and even disable the tool altogether.)

Slip-ups can be a risk for both creators and brands.

McGrady said that if a post made in partnership with a brand was flagged as AI, it could "harm your relationship with the brand."

Advertisers are well aware of the public backlash an AI-heavy ad can bring.

Brands are taking proactive action to prevent this. Five creators and talent managers said there had been an increase in clauses in partnership briefs and contracts that explicitly state that creators cannot use AI in parts of the content process — particularly in scriptwriting, captions, and visual edits.

"If you're a brand, you obviously don't want to see an influencer you hire have a 100% negative comment section," said Jack Appleby, a relatively AI-positive creator and social media strategist. "If you're not an AI brand, you probably avoid AI right now, just because there's no reason to risk it."

There is no escaping the AI era

Despite the blowback, AI pervades many aspects of content creation.

Photo and video editing apps use it, whether loudly or under the hood. If you use Instagram's fancy font tools when making a Story post, it will trigger a tag that says the text has been "restyled with AI."

"It's really difficult to have a fully AI-free experience right now, no matter what line of work you're in," Calveiro said. "I think a lot more people are using it than they want to admit."

There are real benefits to some tools, too.

"I very frequently tell my audience that there are ethical and moral reasons to use AI. When I do, it's from an accessibility perspective," McGrady said. "But I am a person who proudly says that I do not use generative AI."

The backlash against creators' use of AI may ease in the coming months as AI-powered creative tools become ubiquitous. Labeling efforts could shift toward flagging only fully AI-generated posts.

More transparency about how AI is used could reduce headaches for creators and platforms alike, making room for them to explore how the tech can expand their creativity.

"I'm very honest about how I use AI," Appleby said. "I don't really run from it. If a piece of content entertains or educates or provides value to somebody, for the most part, they shouldn't really care."

• AI
• Artificial Intelligence
• TikTok
• More
• Meta
• Influencers

Most popular

Business Insider tells the stories you want to know about the world of business, technology, and finance

Business Insider tells the stories you want to know about the world of business, technology, and finance

Business Insider tells the stories you want to know about the world of business, technology, and finance

Business Insider tells the stories you want to know about the world of business, technology, and finance

Business Insider tells the stories you want to know about the world of business, technology, and finance

Business Insider tells the stories you want to know about the world of business, technology, and finance

Sydney Bradley

You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Sydney Bradley has been covering media and tech for Business Insider since 2020. She breaks news and writes extensively about Instagram and Facebook, as well as new social media startups, dating apps, the creator economy, venture capital, and tech culture.She regularly contributes to BI's "After Hours" series, where our reporters dive into the social scenes shaping tech, media, and finance.Sydney's reporting on Instagram was nominated as a finalist for the 2021 Los Angeles Press Club National Entertainment Journalism Awards.She graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in American Studies. You can follow Sydney's work on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram at @sydneykbradley.Have a tip? You can also contact her via encrypted messaging app Signal (@sydneykbradley.123), encrypted email ([email protected]), or standard email ([email protected]). Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.Selected stories:

• Young founders are going viral mode
• Death isn't the end: Meta patented an AI that lets you keep posting from beyond the grave
• Dating apps are betting millions that AI will convince you to fall back in love with them

• Hitting the social media jackpot is harder than ever — and it's changing the creator economy

• Big Tech's AI obsession is rattling creators

• New startups race to bring back the 'old internet' vibes of the 2000s
• The mysterious demise of a $1 billion social shopping app

• The loneliness epidemic has given rise to a new crop of startups aiming to help people connect in real life
• It's not just you — no one is posting on social media anymore
• How Instagram's unpredictable changes are giving influencers whiplash
• Why YouTube subscriber counts have become an unreliable 'vanity metric' in the era of short video
• Inside the week that changed Facebook forever

Dan Whateley

You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

“Trump’s declaration that big oil is ‘making too much money’ belies his accommodation and giveaways to the industry that have enabled its price-gouging – not to mention his disaster of a war of choice against Iran,” said Tyson Slocum, energy program director at consumer advocacy nonprofit Public Citizen. “But like a broken clock that’s correct twice a day, the president is right that oil companies are ‘making too much money’, which means Trump should endorse a windfall profits tax.”

ExxonMobil and Chevron on Friday both reported windfall profits for the second quarter of the year. Chevron said its earnings soared nearly 400% to $12bn, while Exxon’s profits more than doubled to $14.5bn. On Monday evening, Trump took aim at those gains, saying the companies “ought to give some of that back to the public”.

“They’re making too much money based on a shortage,” he told reporters at the White House. “I don’t like it.”

Not long ago, however, Trump was celebrating the fact that the war on Iran, which he launched with Israel in February, has pushed up gas prices. “When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” he said on social media in March.

Earlier that month, Trump claimed that Iran’s shutdown of the major shipping route the Strait of Hormuz “doesn’t really affect” the US the way it does “other countries” because it is the top global crude producer, and because just a small portion of the country’s oil imports comes from the Persian Gulf. But oil prices are influenced by global markets and supply chains, experts have noted.

Trump has also relentlessly boosted oil and gas interests while in office. In 2024, he reportedly met with more than 20 oil bosses, seeking $1bn in campaign donations from their industry and promising if elected to remove dozens of environmental regulations.

While he did not manage to get to that $1bn figure, he did obtain record contributions from the sector. Since re-entering the White House last year he has eased dozens of restrictions and regulations on fossil fuel expansion, exempted fossil fuel producers from environmental rules, and signed an executive order last year directing the attorney general to prioritize blocking climate lawsuits targeting oil majors.

“We shouldn’t be surprised that the same companies that struck a $1bn quid pro quo to help elect Trump in exchange for delivering on their policy wish list are now cashing in on his anti-consumer agenda,” said Lena Moffitt, executive director of climate advocacy group Evergreen Action.

Trump has also personally invested in major oil companies. According to his 2025 financial disclosure, he increased his personal energy portfolio last year, placing between $3m and $12m in ExxonMobil stock and between $1.25m and $6m in Chevron stock, Politico first reported, indicating he may be benefitting from the two companies’ windfall profits.

As oil companies have reaped billions from the Iran war’s impact on fossil fuel prices, the Rhode Island senator Sheldon Whitehouse and California congressman Ro Khanna have proposed taxing big oil’s windfall profits from the Iran war-fueled crisis, saying proceeds from that tax should go to American families who are paying more for fuel.

Reached for comment, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said: “President Trump’s energy dominance agenda is successfully unleashing reliable, affordable, and secure energy sources.

“The President’s main priority has been and always will be lowering gas prices for Americans,” Rogers added. “Allowing the oil and gas industry to ‘DRILL, BABY, DRILL’ is imperative to driving down prices.”

American families have paid more than $78bn more at the pump since the start of the Iran war, according to a Brown University tracker. And a recent analysis from environmental advocact group Climate Power and liberal think tank Center for American Progress Action Fund found that Trump’s policies have cost the average American family $285 more at the pump.

In addition to supporting a windfall profits tax, Trump should work to limit fossil fuel exports “as they contribute to higher prices for Americans and fatter profits for industry,” said Slocum. Khanna in April introduced legislation aimed at banning the export of gasoline during price spikes.

But Trump officials say they have no intention of considering restrictions on fossil fuel exports.

“While the President and his entire energy team have taken several actions to mitigate temporary disruptions to the energy market, the Administration has been quite clear: there is no plan to implement restrictions on oil and gas exports,” said Rogers.

Earlier this week, dozens of US advocacy groups led by environmental organization Food and Water Watch called on congressional leaders to ban on fossil fuel exports and impose a windfall profits tax on oil majors.

“There are concrete ways to fight back against the fossil fuel industry and their insatiable profiteering,” the letter says. %!s()

The 34-year-old artist and life coach, born in California and raised in Taiwan, is based in Brooklyn and recently finalized his first art exhibition, "The Art of Surrender." The collection, displayed in T.O.L.K. — a Bushwick café and art gallery in mid and late July — served as his final homage to the city, as he returned to Taiwan on August 5 to complete the military service required to retain his citizenship.

Since the opening, he has sold his first four pieces at his first art show, two for $500, with the help of the coffee shop's owners, who did not take a commission. He was able to hold the show under his planned budget.

Yet, it was just a year ago that he started calling himself a part-time artist. During his time in New York City, he has worked in B2B sales, held multiple tech jobs at startups, become a career and life coach, and found his passion for art. All the while, he has had to learn how to afford to practice art in one of the most expensive cities in the country after his income fell from six figures to under $25,000 when he left the corporate world.

Tsao is among the many New Yorkers who have adapted how they live to keep up with the city’s high cost of living. Business Insider has documented similar trade-offs throughout our Cost of the City series.

From a one-way ticket to a six-figure career

After graduating from the University of Southern California, Tsao moved to New York with a one-way ticket and no job lined up. He worked in B2B sales before transitioning into the tech industry, where he became a product manager, earning over $100,000 a year at a healthcare startup doing opioid addiction treatment.

Then came the pandemic. Although Tsao's company had gone fully remote a few months prior, he was laid off on May 15, 2020. Frustration with the layoff led to Tsao taking steps toward entrepreneurship. He began coaching early-stage founders and taught them how to build websites without coding.

The career change came at a financial cost: Tsao watched his annual income fall from six figures to less than $25,000. He had some money in his 401(k) and savings from his tech career, which he invested in opening his own business. Although he could move back in with his parents in Taiwan if things got worse, the loss of financial stability weighed on him and made him reassess his priorities.

"It is true that there are things that could feel more heavy," like paying bills, he said. "I was able to really be clear with myself of what I need to really feel joyful and safe."

Tsao found that while the city takes a lot, it offers a lot too

Tsao realized his priorities were to have a roof over his head and access to affordable food. The trade-offs he made included going out less often, cooking rather than ordering delivery or eating out, and choosing longer subway commutes over Uber rides.

"It actually did allow me to realize that there's a lot of things that are really beautiful in New York, even if you're not having as much disposable income," he said.

Tsao concluded that New York City can be unaffordable and affordable at the same time.

He exchanged pricey concerts for walks through Prospect Park, came up with creative date ideas, and took advantage of the Culture Pass, which gives New Yorkers free access to museums and libraries. He shifted from buying books from Amazon to discovering the Brooklyn Public Library, which became his favorite place to read and find books.

"I found creative ways to really enjoy living in New York City, especially Brooklyn, on a budget," he said.

During the pandemic, he moved into a two-bedroom apartment with in-unit laundry, which he split with his ex-girlfriend. By the time he moved out in June 2026, the rent was around $1,300 each. He temporarily stayed in a sublet until he moved to Taiwan.

Besides rent, he budgeted around $150 a month for groceries and kept his art-supply costs down. Most of his materials were donated by friends or found on Brooklyn patios. Yet, he did pay $12 per bottle of ink and about $38 for Posca markers.

Healthcare was one of the biggest shifts he experienced

As Tsao's income bracket fell, he was caught by something else — Medicaid. After qualifying for the federal program, he began to receive both emotional and physical treatment, which he would not have looked for when working in tech and paying for his own private health insurance.

Through Medicaid, he began seeing a social worker at Le Santé Health Center in Flatbush for weekly therapy sessions.

"I was trying to separate my identity and value from productivity, output, and how people perceived me," he said. "I would not have gotten therapy if I had not been on Medicaid."

He also began to receive Medicaid-subsidized physical therapy for chronic pain in his upper-right shoulder, which had developed in 2020 from a combination of leaning forward at his desk and recreational bouldering.

"From a health level, it was the most abundant I had ever felt," he said. "That was really one area that the change in affordability didn't make me feel more constrained. Actually, it made me feel like I had more options."

A new beginning in art, and a farewell to New York City

Tsao found that what he enjoyed about coaching was the emotional guidance he brought to it. In 2022, he replaced his technical, no-code coaching with coaching for executives and people in leadership roles — $200-$250, hour-long sessions — which were his main source of income.

"I realized I liked talking about those feelings more than I liked the technical coaching," he said.

Tsao realized he "also wanted to live" what he was coaching.

This realization, tied to his period of personal healing and one psychedelic session, led Tsao back to art. During that session, he began picking up art materials and rediscovered his love of painting. Afterward, he began using art materials he had received from friends and carving out time to create while supporting himself through coaching. His mixed-media abstract work featured in the exhibition explores ancestry, Eastern and Western identities, and connection to the self through ink, collage, crayons, and colored markers.

This shift is what led him to his first art exhibition and now to the send-off for the city he lived in for 13 years. He will miss the city's pizza and diversity, but most importantly the vibrance of its people — from buskers on the subway to dancers in Washington Square Park.

"I think about the New York that doesn't really relate to things with price," he said. "I definitely do think about the concerts I've been to, the food I've had, the encounters at that. But most importantly, the love letter is everything in between. It's for the little pockets of magic."

Read next

Martina Nacach Cowan Ros

You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Martina is an economy fellow at Business Insider, where she covers the Cost of the City series and broader economic news. She studied journalism and international relations at Boston University.

• Cost of the City
• Art
• Tech
• More
• Artist
• Careers

Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images

China's exports rose more than expected in July, though growth eased from June's blistering pace, with global demand for high-tech components helping absorb the country's goods.

Exports grew 23.9% in U.S. dollar terms in July from a year earlier, official customs data showed Friday, topping Reuters-polled analysts' forecast for a 22.2% growth. That slowed from June's 27% surge, which was the fastest pace since October 2021.

Imports rose 27.5% last month, just shy of Reuters estimates of 27.9% in a Reuters poll, slowing from June's 36% jump — the quickest in five years.

A worldwide build-out of AI infrastructure has helped support the world's second-largest economy through a year of geopolitical shocks, keeping growth on track even as domestic consumption has been subdued.

China's integrated circuit exports by value nearly doubled this year as of the end of July, from the same period last year, according to official data compiled by Wind Information. In July alone, chip exports surged 117% from a year earlier.

Exports of mechanical and electrical products accounted for more than 60% of China's total shipments in the first seven months this year, according to China's customs authority, driven by demand for electric vehicles, lithium battery and wind power generating equipment. Among the other fast-growing export categories were 3D printers and industrial robotics.

Chinese exporters had also been racing goods onto U.S.-bound ships ahead of an anticipated increase in tariffs. Washington applied a new 12.5% levy on Chinese products in late July, replacing a temporary 10% rate that had lapsed.

Shipments to the U.S. grew around 17% from a year ago, quickening from about 14% in June, according to Wind, while imports increased 15%. China's exports to the European Union continued to grow, expanding 16% year on year in July, while imports from the bloc shrank 1%.

The trade surplus came in at $112.5 billion, exceeding analysts' estimates of about $107 billion, while narrowing from $125.6 billion in June, customs data showed.

watch now

China's export engine is likely to remain strong in the third quarter, said Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.

Beijing's massive trade surplus, which exceeded $1 trillion last year, has become a standing grievance for its trading partners, including the U.S. and the European Union, where officials have pressed China to rebalance its economy toward boosting consumption.

"I expect intense negotiations between China and the major trading partners in the coming months on what can be done to make trade more balanced," said Zhang, ahead of the expected U.S.-China summit in September and the EU-China meeting on economic relations in October.

Chinese authorities reaffirmed support for the slowing economy during a policy-setting meeting in late July, including accelerated fiscal rollout and timely monetary adjustment, while stopping short of announcing concrete steps to boost household spending.

China's economy in the second quarter expanded at its weakest pace since the fourth quarter of 2022, with gross domestic product growth coming in at 4.3% in the April to June period.

Retail sales eked out 1% growth in June, a thin rebound from May's 0.6% contraction. Consumer inflation cooled to 1% in June from 1.2% in May, while factory-gate prices rose 4.1%, the strongest growth since July 2022. %!s()

Community payback is not suitable for everyone but covers a wide range of adult offending and can be included as part of suspended sentences. The Sentencing Act, which received royal assent in January, introduces a presumption for courts to suspend short custodial sentences of 12 months, which will mean more offenders carrying out community-based punishments.

On the day the Guardian visited the Smethwick project last month, the temperature was already in the high 20s by 9.30am when the participants arrived at the canal for a day of strimming and cutting back overgrown vegetation, and clearing beer cans, plastic bags, bottles and condoms from the towpath and the canal itself.

Among them was Steve Warmer, a 54-year-old with a painful hip, dressed in a grey tracksuit, who was recently convicted of an offence that can attract a fine, a driving ban and up to six months in prison. As two of his fellow participants were given nets to trawl the canal for rubbish and thick, green duckweed, Warmer was handed a picker and the first of many black rubbish bags.

Warmer, a factory worker from Dudley, said he was “the last one standing [alive]” out of his group of friends. “I actually enjoy this work,” he said. “It gives me knowledge of life and other people.”

The aim of community payback is to combine punishment with rehabilitation, and Warmer added: “Me and my wife now litter pick in our own street.”

Not everyone working at the canal was as positive as Warmer, who had completed 126 of 250 hours of a community payback sentence. In the hot weather, the work was particularly demanding, with plenty of water breaks needed as the temperature rose further in the afternoon.

Courts can order between 40 and 300 hours of community payback, to be completed within a specific timeframe. Offenders must work up to 28 hours each week over three or four days if they are unemployed. If they are employed, it will be organised around their working hours. Failure to comply without reasonable excuse can result in enforcement action and a return to court.

The supervisor at the Smethwick project on the day Warmer was there was Mo Ghafoor, who spent 10 years as a corporate banker and whose responsibilities now included driving the van that transported the offenders and equipment to the site.

“This is 100% more fulfilling’ he said. “I used to help businesses with profit but I was just a voice on the phone. Here I make a difference in the heart of my own community. I help my own mental health and that of others, the community and individuals.”

Other forms of community payback, formerly known as community sentences, include removing graffiti, decorating public places and buildings such as community centres, and planting trees. Anyone can nominate a project for the scheme, provided it benefits the local community, does not take paid work away from others, and doesn’t make a profit for anyone.

Among the offenders who will spend less time in prison and more time in the community as a result of the Sentencing Act are burglars, shoplifters and criminals convicted of assault.

The latest statistics, from July to September 2024, show that adults released from custody with sentences of less than 12 months had a reoffending rate of 68.2%, compared with 22.9% for sentences of 12 months or more.

While critics might see community payback as a soft sentencing option, it is not a view shared by Ghafoor. “We look at the individual to whom it gives a structure to their life,” he said. “It often breaks a negative cycle and changes their mindset, and therefore brings reoffending down.” %!s()