IMTB, ISBA: AI surge will put premium on human-to-human creativity

The growth in AI could put a premium on high-value collaborations between brands that want to invest in the space and content creators who are using it as an additive, two of the UK’s leading voices in influencer regulation have told The Daily Influence.

In a wide-ranging interview, Scott Guthrie, Director General of the Influencer Marketing Trade Body (IMTB), and Rob Newman, Director of Public Affairs at the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA), said the UK’s influencer code of conduct is being stress-tested by automation, new regulatory powers and a rapidly maturing creator class.

2025 has seen a visible spike in AI-generated content across the creator economy, from hyper-real synthetic influencers to fully automated livestream personalities. The launch of Sora in October, publicly backed by US creator Jake Paul, intensified concerns that AI-generated creators could undercut human talent. In China, livestream sellers are already deploying digital “doppelgängers” that continue performing while they sleep.

Guthrie believes the technology will divide the market. “AI is like every other industry, it’s impacting every stage,” he said. “But if we lose that human-to-human element, we’ve lost the industry.” Prompt-driven creativity, he warned, risks flattening the craft itself: “What happens to creativity if content creation is reduced to using your thumbs to key in a prompt?”

Newman agreed, describing his Instagram feed as “awash with content from Sora”, with many posts requiring a second glance. “As a fairly media-literate person, I find it difficult, at first, to separate generated content from reality,” he said. Creators who can demonstrate authenticity, he argued, will command a premium.

Brands appear similarly cautious. Guthrie pointed to research from the World Federation of Advertisers: only 15% of its members have experimented with virtual influencers, despite 77% recognising potential cost efficiencies. But 96% reported “major concerns about consumer trust”, and 73% cited authenticity as a barrier.

“The platforms are pushing virtual influencers,” Guthrie said. “But the stats show we’re not there yet.”

Newman said ISBA has advised its members to be “very cautious” about virtual influencer avatars, citing reputational risks ranging from deepfakes to a resurgence of misogynistic AI imagery. “My feeling is: stay well away,” he said. “And it comes back to the authenticity point.”

Still, he believes the AI boom could accelerate demand for stronger partnerships. “In a world of trimmed marketing budgets and pressure for clear ROI, there might be more of a premium placed on high-value collaborations between brands and trusted content creators who are using AI as an additive, not a replacer.”

The Influencer Code of Conduct

This backdrop is shaping how IMTB and ISBA continue to evolve the UK’s influencer code of conduct – a best-practice guide for advertisers, agencies and creators.

First devised in 2019 through ISBA’s Influencer Marketing Group, the code was created to address growing issues around disclosure and campaign governance. Initially drafted by ISBA and later refined with IMTB, it is now in its fourth iteration, adopted by an estimated 40–45% of the UK market, with a push to reach 50% this year. It is also taught in undergraduate and postgraduate advertising courses, reflecting the sector’s rapid professionalisation.

A key change in the latest version is the clear delineation of responsibilities across advertisers, agencies and creators. Guthrie said more talent agencies have sought IMTB membership in the last year due to its work “professionalising the space”.

Newman stressed that the code was never designed as a top-down rulebook. “We didn’t want it to be one-way traffic,” he said. Creators’ rights were deliberately embedded: “It’s not just brands saying, ‘you have to disclose properly’. It’s creators being able to say, ‘we want to be involved in the co-creation of campaigns from the off — we want to understand deliverables, payment timelines, and KPIs’.” The goal, he said, was “two-way obligations… that thread of collaboration from the [start].”

The code has already improved ad disclosure, which the pair said was once a consistent flashpoint. “There’s an appetite for creators and brands to do the right thing,” Guthrie said.

Ultimately, Newman noted, the code’s value rests on trust. The creator economy is “an exciting and innovative space”, but also a regulated one. As AI blurs the line between real and synthetic content, both believe the code will play a growing role in helping creators, agencies and brands maintain that trust.