AI‑generated Black avatars sell cheap goods on TikTok
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- Aliyah is an AI‑generated Black avatar presented as a handmade belt‑buckle maker on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, while the products are mass‑produced and sold on Shein for $9.
- The Verge uncovered dozens of similar TikTok accounts using AI avatars and scripted narratives to market cheap dropship items, many of which are labeled as AI‑generated.
- Jeremy Carrasco of Riddance.ai estimates his team discovers up to 100 AI‑avatar accounts selling products daily, most created in the past two months, with Black‑woman avatars like Aliyah attracting the most engagement (Aliyah’s account has 40,000 followers).
- Cienna Davis calls the practice “digital blackface,” noting that non‑Black creators exploit Black identity for profit and flatten racial representation.
- Tempest M. Henning adds that the avatars’ Black‑coded names (e.g., Aliyah, Amaya) lack authentic cultural signals, turning them into caricatures rather than genuine Black entrepreneurs.
- Shein supplies the identical belt buckles marketed in the videos, priced at $9 on the site but advertised for $40 by the AI avatars.
- The Verge received no response from the AI‑generated accounts or associated stores, highlighting the difficulty of accountability for these scams.
Why it matters: The scams funnel money to anonymous AI operators while deceiving viewers who think they are supporting Black‑owned small businesses, and they weaponize Black identity for profit, undermining authentic Black entrepreneurship, eroding trust in social‑media commerce, and inflating the perceived value of cheap dropship goods.
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