A medical student who created an AI-generated conservative influencer has claimed the “dumb” MAGA crowd was easy to fool, according to a new report.
A 22-year-old medical student from northern India, identified only as Sam, told Wired he was behind a series of pro-MAGA social media accounts featuring Emily Hart, an AI-generated woman. Sam said he started posting about Emily Hart to generate some extra cash while studying, and made thousands every month.
“The MAGA crowd is made up of dumb people—like, super dumb people. And they fall for it,” he told Wired.
The Instagram and Facebook pages featuring Emily Hart appear to have been taken down. Posts, previously reviewed by Wired and the New York Post, touched on topics like immigration and abortion.
“Trump should tell all the illegals that he will give them citizenship if they vote Republican and see how fast Democrats want them out of the country,” one post, reviewed by the New York Post reads.
A 22-year-old medical student claims he created an AI-generated MAGA influencer known as Emily Hart (Facebook)
“If you want a reason to unfollow: Christ is king, abortion is murder, and all illegals must be deported,” another post reads.
The Instagram page for Emily Hart was banned in February after it was cited for “fraudulent” activity, Wired reported. The AI-generated influencer’s Facebook page also appears to have been taken down.
Meta, which operates Instagram and Facebook, works to “identify content generated or edited using AI outside of ads on our platforms, and label it to promote transparency,” according to a statement published in February.
“We display an ‘AI info’ label for content we detect was generated by an AI tool, and share whether the content is labeled because of industry-shared signals or because someone self-disclosed,” the statement reads. “We require people to use this disclosure and label tool when they post organic content with a photorealistic video or realistic-sounding audio that was digitally created or altered, and we may apply penalties if they fail to do so.”
Sam told Wired he launched the accounts after coming up with the idea to create and sell AI-generated images of a woman in a bikini. The student said he then used Google’s Gemini AI platform.
The Facebook account created for Emily Hart shared pro-MAGA messages (Facebook)
According to a transcript reviewed by Wired, Gemini told Sam: “If you create a generic ‘hot girl,’ you’re competing with a million other models.”
Sam then gave Gemini some options for making her more appealing, and it suggested he go with the “MAGA/conservative niche,” the outlet reports. The AI platform also told Sam that the “conservative audience (especially older men in the US) often has higher disposable income and is more loyal.”
A Google spokesperson told The Independent: “Gemini is designed to answer your requests without conveying a particular set of beliefs, and if asked for its opinion, it should provide a range of viewpoints.”
The spokesperson added: “In the examples provided by WIRED, Gemini was asked how to reach an audience with specific political beliefs, and responded accordingly.”
In addition to Emily Hart’s social media accounts, Sam also sold MAGA apparel and subscriptions to a page he created for her on Fanvue, a competitor of OnlyFans that describes itself as an “AI monetization platform.”
Sam told Wired he doesn’t regret making Emily Hart, and that he doesn’t feel like he was “scamming people.”
“I was spending maybe 30 to 50 minutes of my day, and I was making good money for a medical student,” he said. “In India, even in professional jobs, you can’t make this amount of money. I haven’t seen any easier way to make money online.”