OTTAWA, Canada: Claude creator backlash has prompted influencer Emma Orhun to warn that hostility toward artificial intelligence could make users less willing to publicly acknowledge their use of the technology.
Orhun, a former Shopify design technologist, told Business Insider she received a wave of negative comments after publishing a paid promotion for Anthropic’s Claude.
Some followers raised environmental and ethical objections to AI and threatened to unfollow her. She discussed the experience on the August 11 episode of “The Internet Is Dead,” where hosts Brittany Deitch.
Sameera Rachakonda described the episode as covering the backlash to her Claude advertisement and her path from internet creator to software engineering.
Orhun described the episode as being “micro-cancelled” and said subsequent criticism made her reconsider some of her arguments.
She initially suggested women faced greater pressure to take ethically acceptable positions online, but later acknowledged that male creators have also faced criticism for promoting AI.
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Still, she said the broader reaction could discourage transparency about AI use. Orhun told Business Insider that she knows people who use AI tools but “they just won’t talk about it.”
Orhun said she uses Claude for coding and unfamiliar technical problems but draws a boundary around creative work. She said she continues to make her artwork herself rather than using generative AI.
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The dispute follows broader criticism of AI influencer marketing. OpenAI’s “Summer Club” retreat in upstate New York drew negative reactions in July after participating creators posted content about the company’s tools alongside luxury-resort activities.
