🤖 AI Fitness Influencers: The Future of Fitfluencing… and Why Humans Still Win (I hope)
- Frank Sinclair
- Aug 26
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 27
I’ve just finished recording a podcast on a topic that feels like it’s been pulled straight from a sci-fi film, AI fitness influencers.
If you haven’t stumbled across one yet, it's only a matter of time. They’re already here: perfectly lit, perpetually “on”, never having an off-day fitness accounts that look and sound like real humans… except they don’t actually exist.
Every photo, every video, every post is generated by artificial intelligence.
It’s enough to make me wonder if my job has an expiry date… though I’m holding out hope that my weird dad jokes and dodgy dancing aren’t yet programmable.
The Pros: Why It’s Actually Quite Impressive
I’ll admit it, I use AI every day. From planning workouts to editing content, it’s like having a super-speedy assistant who never needs a coffee break.
And when it comes to AI influencers, the tech is seriously impressive:
Consistency: They can post every single day without burnout.
Customisation: You can tailor them to your audience’s exact preferences (hair colour, accent, training style, even “personality” quirks).
Cost-effectiveness: No flights to Bali for the sunrise shoot. No hotel rooms. Just… pixels.
Scalability: Want a Spanish-speaking kettlebell expert and a Japanese yoga master? You can “hire” both before lunchtime.
It’s easy to see why brands are experimenting. In a world that runs on attention, AI is an always-on content machine that can deliver results way beyond the capabilities of any human.
The Cons: The Cost of “Perfect”
But here’s where it gets tricky.
No life experience: An AI fitness influencer has never actually been sore after a squat session.
Filtered reality: If you thought Instagram’s “highlight reel” problem was bad, imagine a feed where no one ever sweats, struggles, or fails.
Connection gap: Humans connect through imperfection. We like seeing the coach who gets out of breath or the yoga instructor whose dog wanders into frame mid-flow.
If our feeds get flooded with flawless, never-tired avatars, it’s going to make it even harder for people to feel like they measure up.
What It Means for Clients Scrolling Your Feed
For someone just starting out, AI content could be both motivating and misleading.
On the plus side, you’ll see crystal-clear demonstrations of exercises. On the downside, you’re also seeing someone who literally cannot get an injury, feel unmotivated, or age a day.
This is why it's important to take what you see online with a big pinch of salt, and I encourage my clients to do the same. Pretty videos are nice, but real progress happens in the messy, sweaty, “oops I forgot my water bottle” moments.
What It Means for Personal Trainers and the Industry
Here’s my bold prediction:
The more AI takes over the content space, the more human connection becomes a premium product.
Over the next 5–10 years, I think we’ll see:
The Rise of Hybrid Coaching: Trainers using AI for the boring bits (exercise libraries, reminders, templates) so they can focus on the human bits (accountability, empathy, spontaneous bad jokes).
Personal Branding Overload: Coaches leaning hard into their own quirks and backstories, because no AI can fake your journey.
Community Value Explosion: Trust in content will drop, but trust in communities will rise. People will pay to be part of spaces where the people are real.
Verification Culture: “Human Verified” might become the new “organic”.
Emotional Coaching as the USP: AI can give you a perfect workout plan, but it can’t tell when you’re on the verge of tears and need a pep talk instead of burpees.
Why I’m Excited (and Still All-In on Humans)
I’m not anti-AI. Far from it. I think it’s going to help a lot of us in the fitness industry work smarter, reach more people, and spend more time doing the fun stuff.
But I am convinced of this: in a world where you can’t always tell what’s real, real becomes priceless.
The sound of laughter mid-class. The moment your PT celebrates a win you didn’t think you were capable of. The sweaty hug after a group workout. Those aren’t replicable. And if the next decade gives us an endless supply of AI perfection, it might just make our gloriously imperfect, human moments more valuable than ever.
So yes, I’ll keep embracing AI tools in my work… but I’ll also keep showing up as my very human, grey haired, balding, 40+ something self.
What do you think? COMMENT BELOW and let me know...
FRANK
your Personal Trainer / Very Human Human
I like your sensible attitude to AI Frank, use it for the boring bits (checking always it hasn’t written rubbish), to focus more time on the important - human being required - stuff. And you are correct, you (and your humour and empathy) are irreplaceable!