Aliyah, a light-skinned Black woman dressed in country-western gear, is struggling to sell metal buckles she handmade on TikTok. In a video for the social media platform from March, she cries to the camera and pleads for views: “Even as a black woman, I have more faith that white women will stay 13 seconds [on this video] to save my belt buckle business,” the onscreen text reads. She wipes a tear off her cheek. But Aliyah isn’t real, and neither are her supposedly handmade products — she’s one of many AI-generated influencers created to sell mass-produced products via dropshipping on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. Identical belt buckles — sunflower design, detachable knife inlay, and all — are sold on the fast-fashion site Shein , and for a quarter of the price. Aliyahsbuckles on TikTok (left), and Amaya’s buckles on TikTok (right) There are some clues to spot to determine that this video is AI-generated. Aliyah’s voice is robotic and emotionless, which doesn’t match the crying face on the screen.…