Gen Z has a new favorite Frenchman on social media—he’s just not real. Jean Philanthrope, a.k.a. Jean Phil (@jean_philanthrope), is a burly man with a haircut reminiscent of Lord Farquaad, curled mustache, and brown houndstooth suit. In less than two weeks, he has amassed over 200K followers on IG and TikTok, all from just eight posts that follow the same formula: he stands looking stoic and shadowboxes. Apparently, that’s enough for Gen Z: Phil’s posts have racked up millions of views, while commenters have declared him “the next internet star.” But here’s the twist: he’s AI-generated, as many creators claim his likeness is available as an “AI overlay.” And once people realized, commenters who had been enjoying Phil’s content started expressing genuine disappointment, like one who said they felt “bamboozled” after realizing he wasn’t real. YPulse data shows 70% of 13-24-year-olds in Europe wouldn’t want to follow someone computer-generated on social media. The gag is, they may already be. (The Tab)
👀 Read more from YPulse: Western Europe AI (Artificial Intelligence) report
