The rise of AI video creators with no faces in six figures

In early 2024, 27-year-old Gregory Cook had no intention of becoming a face. Cook had already experienced highs and lows in entrepreneurship. A few years ago, he managed to run a digital agency with 42 employees and designed websites for clients across the UK. The business was profitable, but the pressure hit him. The meeting bleed over the weekend and clients hijacked dinner time. Eventually, Burnout is forced to stop it all.

So when Cook returned to entrepreneurship in 2024, he did things differently. He created a digital product, a simple PDF built using ChatGpt and Canva. Cook said he didn't ride Zoom calls or create a YouTube channel with his face, but by May 2024 he had already generated more than $700,000 in revenue.

He is part of a growing wave of creators – or, more precisely, a solo digital entrepreneur. Generation AI and automationhowever, there are no public personas or personal brands, and in many cases there are no major supporters. Their model is sometimes called “Faceless Automation,” but Cooke prefers another term: “AI Asset Farming” – the idea that anyone can turn their knowledge into a suite of assets that generate income generated by AI without going to the camera.

“I thought the only way was to build a team and put myself there,” he said. “Now I think simplicity is even better.”

Faceless, profitable

Cook is not alone in this new world Video generated by faceless AI. Ashley Kemp, a British Army veteran who deployed to Afghanistan at the age of 18, spent years chasing traditional business ideas and watching most fail. In 2024, he launched his first Faceless product. This is a digital guide to affiliate marketing that is fully created with AI tools and promoted through short content using avatar generators. Within three months, he said in an interview that he was generating six figures in net monthly income.

Together, Cook and Kemp helped popularize business styles where lifestyle video blogs exist and that creators often feel like the opposite of the influencer economy where they have to show charisma. And they are not the only ones.

Beyond the Reddit Forum Passive income YouTube Automation Communities has many similar stories from faceless financial channels where AI pulls advertising revenue from voiceless videos. A digital storefront that sells concept templates built by AI. Side hustlers earn thousands of US dollars from Facebookless Tiktok accounts that don't showcase real people.

How do they do that? Although individual strategies vary, models tend to follow familiar patterns. First, create products such as ebooks, scripts, presentations, and more using tools such as ChatGpt, Canva, and Tome. Then connect those products to platforms like Gumroad, Stan Store, Kajabi and more. Finally, it drives traffic using short content, often generated by AI avatars from platforms such as Synthesia.

The economics of this growing ecosystem are beginning to turn your head. Goldman Sachs Global Creator Economy By 2027 it will reach $480 billion. This is greatly driven by monetization models outside of traditional influencer playbooks. Meanwhile, research and market forecasts for 2024 are Digital Education Sector It will surpass $800 billion by 2030, driven by microlearning and monetization of online skills.

What's even more impressive is that it doesn't cost you to get started. Most of the use of Cook and Kemp, including CHATGPT, CANVA, STAN Store, are free or under $30 a month. So there's no investors, no overhead, no gatekeeper, and perhaps most importantly, no burnout.

Changes in what works look like

Let's zoom out a little more to understand why this is important. Modern workplaces are currently in flux. According to the company, technology layoffs surpassed 260,000 in 2023. Layoff. 43 million Americans hold student loan debt, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Education. Average monthly payment Nearly $350. And despite the rising degrees, 52% of recent graduates are not employedaccording to a report by the Strada Institute for the Future of Work and the Burning Glass Institute.

At the same time, AI is changing what is possible for solo workers. July 2023 McKinsey Report “Up to 30% of the time you worked in the US could be automated by 2030.” Many of these jobs may not be completely eliminated, but they have been reorganized, reconsidered and redistributed. Some people are using that shift to completely reinvent their careers.

“People think you need to have a large audience or be good at camera,” Kemp said. “But thousands of people are quietly making a living from AI tools. They're not influencers. They're digital workers.”

But is it sustainable?

Several creators have promoted this as the next big thing, but not everyone is sure it is a sustainable model. Critics are particularly concerned that their business models rely heavily on third-party platforms and AI-generated content that is often reliant on recycled, shallow or misleading.

Both Tiktok and Meta are unfolding New disclosure policy For media generated by AI. Markets like Etsy have begun cracking down on products created by Ai, labeled as handmade. There is also the issue of trust. Can faceless products build reliability? Can anonymous creators handle customer support, make meaningful iterations, and respond to negative feedback?

“The risk is that faceless creations become faceless liability,” said a startup investor who asked not to name them. “If no one's accountability, if quality is not suffering. And if the platform changes rules, many of these businesses disappear overnight.”

KEMP acknowledges these risks. But for him and many other faceless video creators, the trade-offs are intentional. “Many of these creators are not trying to build the next Saas Unicorn. They are just trying to build a sustainable revenue stream without sacrificing autonomy,” he said.

It remains to be seen whether this model will survive future algorithm changes or platform crackdowns. But for now, it is clear that AI has lowered barriers to entrepreneurship and raised new questions about what creative work really means.

There was a time when entrepreneurship meant pitch decks, product demonstrations, and rooms filled with largely skeptical investors. Then it meant a relentless feed of personal brands, audiences and content.

For a new generation of digital workers today, it may not just be a large advocate, an office, or even a team. It's just a stack of ideas, internet connections, and AI-powered tools that help ordinary people build extraordinary businesses that generate six figures of income.