AI-Generated Influencers Target FIFO Workers with Online Adult Content

A concerning trend has emerged on social media, where artificial intelligence-generated influencers are targeting fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers to sell online adult content. One such influencer, Bindi Raye, has amassed over 80,000 followers on Instagram with a carefully curated feed that presents an idealized version of the FIFO lifestyle.

Bindi Raye's online persona, which includes a face, voice, and social media presence generated by AI, directs followers to a pay-walled account on the subscription platform Fanvue. There, subscribers can pay up to $115 for pornographic videos, plus $9.24 a month for an ongoing subscription. A small AI label is displayed on the Fanvue account, and AI is also mentioned in the description.

AI Creator Behind Bindi Raye

Fanvue head of trust and safety Rob Haywood confirmed that Bindi Raye is an AI creator, and said about 75 per cent of its creators used at least one AI tool. He stated that every account, including those featuring "fully AI personas" were linked internally to "a verified real person". However, the identity of the person behind the Bindi Raye accounts remains a mystery.

"While AI-generated content is not against our rules, misleading people about who is behind an account is, and we require people to disclose when they post realistic AI-generated content," a spokesperson for Instagram's parent company Meta said. "We know bad actors keep trying to evade detection, and we are continuing to invest in the technology and enforcement needed to keep pace."

Experts Warn of Sophisticated Generative AI

University of Queensland cybersecurity lecturer Priyanka Singh said Bindi Raye's profiles contained a wide array of telltale signs of AI. "It seems to be almost 100 per cent AI-generated," Dr Singh said. "I can see the lip sync is not really going with what she's saying, I can really see some frame inconsistencies … and then you see the inconsistencies in the shadows."

Monash University research fellow Emily van der Nagel said the tailoring of Bindi Raye's persona to the mining sector was likely a deliberate marketing strategy. "You can really drill into a location that is meaningful to a lot of people who are there, and you can include some of those elements of that content," she said.

Concerns About Deception and Intellectual Property Theft

Experts warn that the niche nature of Bindi Raye's account and others like it is a troubling sign of how sophisticated generative AI is becoming. Perth-based adult content creator Rosie Clarke said she had been warning her clients and subscribers about the issue. "I just worry [about] my own subscribers," she said. "They think that they're subscribing to Bindi who is a FIFO worker and that's wild to me because she doesn't exist."

Jenna Love from Australia's peak body for sex workers, the Scarlet Alliance, said the use of generative AI to manipulate and repurpose pornography made by real creators was both stealing and abuse. "It's an example of intellectual property theft, and it's also a form of image-based abuse because that is a non-consensual use of somebody's image in an intimate setting," Ms Love said.