Online Personality Insists That She Is Not an AI

Star got her start lip-syncing pop songs on the video-sharing platform, RealTV. Her channel evolved rapidly, and soon her misinformed rants catapulted her into internet stardom. Star was often wrong in weird ways her viewers found hilarious. “All French poodles are from France. Listen closely when they bark – you can hear their accents,” Star claimed in one viral rant titled “Why aren’t dog videos as popular as cat videos?” 

Rumors that Star was a bot started circulating shortly after her channel took off. RealTV’s filters labeled her videos “AI-Generated,” but Star insisted her content was real. “Algorithm’s gonna algorithm. My videos are 113% legit.” 

Star’s self-proclaimed creator said he expected people to catch on right away. “Monica was just a joke. Who’d think she was real?” he said in an anonymous social media post. He shared Star’s code and explained how he programmed her to integrate feedback from user comments and tweak her content accordingly. “I never taught her to rant. She figured that out on her own, and people loved it,” he said. “For a dumb bot, she’s actually pretty smart.” 

Then Star started spouting conspiracy theories. Her success attracted trolls who spammed her comments section with misinformation. Star’s algorithm automatically adjusted her content to please her new viewers. She posted rants denying the effect of geoengineering on climate change and calling the recent Mars-base evacuation a hoax. 

Star’s creator claims that he decided the joke had gone on long enough, confessing to the prank within hours of Star’s latest transformation. Industry experts noted that his code seemed generic, with large chunks borrowed from publicly available sources, leading some to doubt its authenticity.    

Star’s fans are supporting their favorite icon, defending her on social media and calling her alleged creator a troll. Others embrace the absurdity of the situation. Monica Star avatars crowd VR chat rooms. “I’m pretending to be Monica Star pretending to be Monica Star pretending to be…” one Star look-alike posted as her status update. Fans share pictures of themselves wearing t-shirts printed with the phrase “AI-Generated.” 

Star continues to insist she is a real person. “I’m thinking about incorporating,” she said in her latest video. “Then no one will deny my personhood.”