COSTA MESA, Calif. (Oct. 15, 2026) — We now live in a world where your favorite creator might not even be human. In the age of AI, it’s getting harder to tell who is real, and harder to know whose recommendations to trust. This month, Popfly, the creator marketing platform that connects brands with vetted outdoor, travel, and adventure creators, launched a petition calling on brands, creators, and industry leaders to commit to not replacing human creatives with AI.
After an AI-generated persona attempted to join its 20,000 plus creator network, Popfly formalized a stricter policy, banning AI-generated influencers. This is what inspired Popfly to take a public stance. The petition launched Oct. 8, has garnered more than 350 signatures to date, with a goal of hitting 1,000 by the end of the month.
The petition asks brands, creators, and industry leaders to commit to three things:
- Keep real people behind creative work
- Invest in tools that support human creatives instead of replacing them
- Always be upfront when something is AI-generated
Popfly’s position is simple: creator content only works because there’s a real person behind it. When a creator talks about gear they’re using or a trip they’re planning, their audience trusts them because they know that creator has actually been there. AI can’t go into the backcountry. It can’t test gear in the elements, walk on a sandy beach, or find a hidden coffee shop after a long day of driving. Audiences can tell and that wears trust away fast.
“When AI creators started trying to show up on Popfly, we took a hard stance. We banned them,” said Taylor Hoekstra, Founder & CEO of Popfly. “We actively blocked them from joining campaigns with brands like GoPro, Outdoorsy, Backcountry and HydroFlask. The policy at Popfly is simple: reward authenticity and originality, and never let AI replace human creativity.”
Popfly calls mass-produced AI content what it is: digital litter. Too-perfect photos of places no one has been. Apps, websites and even flyers that all look eerily the same. Digital clones of your favorite creators. It clutters feeds, drowns out real stories, and makes every brand look the same.
The litter comparison is a natural one for Popfly. So while the petition tackles the digital side, the company has also adopted stretches of highways in California, Colorado and Utah to help protect the places its creators explore.
Brands, creators and industry leaders can learn more and sign the petition at change.org/p/stop-ai-from-replacing-creators.
About Popfly
Popfly is redefining digital storytelling in the adventure space, empowering creators and brands to thrive in the rapidly evolving creator economy. The platform connects brands with creators to collaborate on authentic content at scale. From discovery and creator storefronts to payments and performance tracking, Popfly streamlines every step of your brand-creator collaboration so you can scale brand momentum and revenue.
For press inquiries, contact popfly@verdepr.com.
