Franklin Templeton predicts AI-powered social media shift

AI agents gain traction in the crypto and social media space, backed by a Franklin Templeton report that points to a future where autonomous entities will reshape the digital landscape.

Asset manager giant Franklin Templeton released a report in early 2025 discussing the growing role of artificial intelligence agents. This refers to sophisticated software entities designed to autonomously perform basic and complex tasks using artificial intelligence. 

According to the report, AI agents are the result of combining artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. AI agents are already being deployed across platforms like Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH). The industry remains in its very early stages, indicating significant opportunities for early investors.

“We can envision a future where AI agents revolutionize content generation on social media and play an integral role across various industries and platforms. Like today’s human influencers, these agents could launch their own brands, products, music, movies, and more, driving significant economic value to their ecosystems.” – Franklin Templeton

Essentially, the report argues the line that separates human from AI content is starting to blur, ushering in a new era full of opportunities.

AI agents, also known as agentic AI, can be defined as AI systems designed to act without human intervention on behalf of a user, an organization, a company, or another entity. Unlike static algorithms, these digital agents can analyze data, pursue objectives, and adapt their strategies in real time.

One area where AI agents are having an immediate impact is in social media. AI agents are transforming how content is created, distributed, and consumed. These bots can be designed to manage influencer accounts, engage with audiences, and generate media content at a scale that no human can match. For example, AI-powered digital influencers can curate and post updates, respond to every comment within seconds, and even host live sessions. The need for constant human oversight is no longer a requirement as AI agents follow specific instructions without deviation.

Beyond content creation, AI agents seamlessly integrate with blockchain networks, allowing them to own digital assets, execute transactions, and verify content authenticity. This capability is driving a new era of decentralized AI-driven media platforms where companies of all sizes can take advantage of digital influencers, brand ambassadors, and personas.

The influencer marketing economy has more than tripled since 2020 and is on track to become a $33 billion industry in 2025. But, it faces many challenges ranging from rising content production costs, inconsistent engagement, and perhaps most notably, fatigue among users.

Companies typically invest hundreds of thousands of dollars and dedicate weeks of work to creating human avatars. Antix presents a disruptive alternative. By leveraging AIGE, Antix’s proprietary AI technology, brands can launch AI-powered digital humans within hours and at a fraction of the cost, starting at $100 per avatar. Also, these digital humans require no costly production cycles or ongoing management, allowing companies to scale content creation at a rapid pace while maintaining consistent engagement with their audiences. 

This way, Antix helps users design AI agents to:

• Create content: Automatically generate and post videos, social media updates, and live streams based on assigned themes.
• Engage audiences: Respond to comments, host Q&A sessions, and interact with users in a way that mimics human influencers and best represents the brand.
• Promote brands: Act as a brand ambassador for companies by launching products, conducting virtual events, and featuring in digital ad campaigns.
• Monetize engagement: Earn revenue through NFT sales, tokenized promotions, and partnerships.

However, Antix’s hyper-realistic human avatars are not limited to social media but can be applied across various industries, especially the content industry, entertainment, marketing, education, healthcare, and customer support. 

Antix’s experts have applied their diverse skills and creative vision to major projects like Game of Thrones and World of Tanks. Their work in AI and digital humans has also attracted the attention of globally recognized brands, including Warner Bros, EA Sports, and HBO.

Fully customizable with support across multiple languages, Antix’s digital personas operate 24/7 without traditional challenges associated with humans. Rather, they are entirely scalable, and under full control of the brands or individuals using them.

Another major component of Antix’s disruptive model is its blockchain-powered token economy. Currently in its early distribution phase, the ANTIX token’s current price is $0.087, reflecting a 38% discount compared to the upcoming Token Generation Event price of $0.14. A total of 7.429 million out of 7.69 million tokens have been sold, implying early adopters have acted quickly to acquire ANTIX tokens at the reduced rate.

The token is designed to facilitate transactions, interactions, and governance within the platform. This is to ensure AI agents aren’t just digital entities but assets with real value.

The ANTIX token is essential for securing complete control and ownership over digital creations. Antix’s digital humans come with an NFT-backed identity system, where every avatar is linked to an NFT passport that serves as a certificate of authenticity and ownership. 

This guarantees creators are given full intellectual property rights so they can buy, sell, license, or rent out AI characters in a secure and verifiable way. By integrating tokenized ownership, Antix enables a decentralized marketplace where brands, creators, and audiences can trade their avatars as productivity tools or valuable digital assets.

Additionally, ANTIX tokens can be used for character upgrades, allowing users to improve various aspects of their digital humans. These upgrades can focus on improving appearance, voice modulation, animation quality, and new interactive capabilities.  

The token is also used for subscription plans, marketplace transactions, promotional boosts, and NFT auctions. Additionally, Antix supports staking, with multiple staking tiers offered, so ANTIX holders can multiply their earnings over time. 

AiXBT: An AI-powered crypto X bot

AiXBT is an AI-driven social media account with a specialization in crypto market analysis. The bot operates as an automated content aggregator but falls short of earning the title of a traditional influencer. It is built on the Virtuals Protocol and scans posts from influential and trustworthy crypto-focused accounts on X and republishes its findings in the form of market insights, price updates, and industry news.

AiXBT still serves as an example of the potential reach of AI bots, as it pumped out more than 100,000 posts on X within its first few months. The topics range from Bitcoin price movements to obscure token launches. The range of topics yielded impressive results as it won over 430,000 followers. 

AiXBT is powered through its AIXBT token which quickly reached a market capitalization of more than $500 million. However, selling pressure and a concerning security breach pushed the token to its current market cap of around $85 million. The plunge in value coincided with a broader market selloff although it may also be due to hype of stronger projects. Notably, AiXBT doesn’t create original insights or engage in in-depth discussions. Instead, it merely aggregates existing narratives.

Anita AI: A virtual AI content creator

Anita AI is a virtual influencer gaining traction for its interactive social media presence and unique governance model. Anita AI is a scripted AI social media personality designed to engage with followers and generate content. Anita mostly functions as a pre-programmed AI assistant, responding to prompts on X, Instagram, and podcasts. Unlike rival AI bots, her engagement is purely algorithm-driven, meaning content is predefined by a set of patterns rather than personal insight or experience.

Anita AI’s content range is broad, featuring Instagram posts focusing on generic lifestyle content, motivational quotes, and AI-generated selfies to simulate influencer behavior. As such, Anita AI represents a basic integration of AI into influencer marketing rather than a game-changing shift in social media engagement.

The ANITA token is integrated into a governance model where Anita acts as a symbolic AI figurehead. It was launched on the Solana blockchain and modeled after a basic DAO, where AI and human participants can influence the project’s direction.

Conclusion: the future is now

The rise of AI agents represents a clear sign of the upcoming large-scale shift in how we experience social media and digital life. 

As Franklin Templeton’s analysis suggests, these AI-driven agents are poised to reshape content creation since complete autonomy and unlimited scalability are a reality: “Although these agents are not yet fully autonomous and have little utility in their current state, this emerging sector may hold significant promise and is worth watching closely as it evolves and matures.”

Social media feeds are already a mix of human and artificial content. As AI technology continues to advance, distinguishing between the two may become nearly impossible.