• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?

2

A Nobel economist challenged Elon Musk to donate his entire $1T fortune by 2036. Musk's reply: 'I am actually going to do something along these lines'

3

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'

1

Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?

2

A Nobel economist challenged Elon Musk to donate his entire $1T fortune by 2036. Musk's reply: 'I am actually going to do something along these lines'

3

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
ConferencesMPW Summit

‘Why the e.l.f. not?’ The beauty brand built an AI model to write social media comments

By
Jenn Brice
Jenn Brice
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jenn Brice
Jenn Brice
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 15, 2024, 8:29 PM ET
From left to right: Astha Malik of Braze, Amy Brooks of the NBA, Ekta Chopra of e.l.f., and Irana Wasti of BILL. All sit on stage during a conference panel
From left: Astha Malik of Braze, Amy Brooks of the NBA, Ekta Chopra of e.l.f., and Irana Wasti of BILL.Stuart Isett/Fortune
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

A generative-AI-powered social media bot is churning out content with 90% accuracy at e.l.f. Beauty, but the company is still using humans to make sure posts sound true to the brand.

After nine months of training on social media data, the model, nicknamed “elf-luencer,” is now “talking like e.l.f.” around 90% of the time, according to the cosmetics company’s chief digital officer Ekta Chopra. It uses emojis and the brand’s “elf-isms” like “elf-mazing” and “elf-ing awesome.”

“AI is very powerful if it has human-led concepts to it,” Chopra said, speaking on a panel about customer loyalty in the AI era at the Fortune Most Powerful Women conference on Monday.

The AI model has saved a lot of time for community managers who would otherwise have to think up and draft social media comments. Now those employees can have a broader reach and devote more time getting to know customers and building relationships with influencers. 

“But every comment is touched by a human,” Chopra noted. They’re using the tech to make employees more efficient, not replace staff, she said.

Chopra oversees the company’s sprawling digital footprint, from AI and augmented reality to social media and e-commerce. Customers can find e.l.f. products just about anywhere they can click—the beauty brand built up a presence on the gaming site Roblox this year, on top of its usual website and mobile-app shopping experiences.

Chopra appeared this week alongside Amy Brooks, the NBA’s first-ever president of new business ventures; Irana Wasti, chief product officer at enterprise fintech firm BILL; and Astha Malik, the chief business officer for marketing software company Braze.

While impressive, Malik noted, generative AI like e.l.f.’s would be powerless without the creative direction of the humans who came up with “elf-isms” and all the social media content that was used to train the model.

“Creativity is still something that belongs in the human arena,” Malik said. AI isn’t wiping out the marketing team. Brooks and Wasti agreed it’s making teams more efficient by saving customers time on tedious tasks like calls to customer service and helping their companies scale global operations.

The NBA is currently using AI to translate game recaps into French, Portuguese, and Spanish. And a new AI tool, NBA Insights, will add context to stats for fans who are checking in about how their team did in last night’s game. 

Powered by Microsoft Azure, NBA Insights will identify key narratives and player performances from a particular game. But long-form game recaps are easier to manage than live commentary, Brooks said. Generating translations for entire games is tricky given the quick pace and deep knowledge needed to follow it.

“Think of commentary in basketball,” Brooks said. “They’re so nuanced it’s just going to be screwed up.” 

The NBA is starting out by testing live translation on four games per week.

“There’s going to be mistakes, but we need to learn and iterate off of that,” she said.

Still, Brooks knows that what fans really want is to feel connected to players. And while Steph Curry might not be comfortable with an AI chatbot that makes Warriors fans feel like they’re having an intimate one-on-one conversation with him, Brooks said players might be more open to a model that is trained to give amateurs pointers on their shooting form.

The Fortune 500 Innovation Forum will convene Fortune 500 executives, U.S. policy officials, top founders, and thought leaders to help define what’s next for the American economy, Nov. 16-17 in Detroit. Apply here.
About the Author
By Jenn Brice
LinkedIn icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest from our Conferences

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest from our Conferences

At Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026, Chris Bedi, Chief Customer Officer and Enterprise AI Advisor, ServiceNow; China Widener, Vice Chair and US Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Leader, Deloitte; and Phil Wiser, Chief Technology Officer, Paramount, speak on a panel with Kristin Stoller, Fortune editorial director.
NewslettersFortune Workplace Innovation
This tech CEO fired 80% of his workforce over AI resistance. Here’s what he’s learned since then
By Kristin StollerJune 15, 2026
1 month ago
Courtney Robinson, head of policy and communications, at Akoya speaks on a panel at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026.
RetailBrainstorm Tech
AI shopping agents are coming. No one is ready for them
By Jeremy KahnJune 12, 2026
2 months ago
The head of Claude Code hasn’t ‘written a line of code by hand’ in 8 months
ConferencesBrainstorm Tech
The head of Claude Code hasn’t ‘written a line of code by hand’ in 8 months
By Nick LichtenbergJune 11, 2026
2 months ago
Sarah Franklin, Chief Executive Officer of Lattice, and Francine Katsoudas, EVP and Chief People, Policy and Purpose Officer at Cisco, speak at Fortune's COO Summit with Kristin Stoller, Editorial Director at Fortune.
NewslettersFortune Workplace Innovation
AI disruption arrived 6 years early—now executives are drawing the line
By Kristin StollerJune 8, 2026
2 months ago
Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026 livestream
ConferencesBrainstorm Tech
Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026 livestream
By Fortune EditorsJune 8, 2026
2 months ago
dw
ConferencesCOO Summit
This CEO has had 6 major jobs in Silicon Valley: How Dennis Woodside built a career on saying yes to hard problems
By Nick LichtenbergJune 3, 2026
2 months ago

Most Popular

Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?
C-Suite
Why did a $154 billion CEO just endorse stripping most Americans of voting rights—and taking us back to the 19th century?
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 27, 2026
1 day ago
A Nobel economist challenged Elon Musk to donate his entire $1T fortune by 2036. Musk's reply: 'I am actually going to do something along these lines'
Success
A Nobel economist challenged Elon Musk to donate his entire $1T fortune by 2036. Musk's reply: 'I am actually going to do something along these lines'
By Sydney LakeJuly 27, 2026
1 day ago
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
Real Estate
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 25, 2026
3 days ago
New York City women are making up to $30,000 per month by renting out their closets to strangers
Retail
New York City women are making up to $30,000 per month by renting out their closets to strangers
By Sarah GlodekJuly 27, 2026
2 days ago
LeBron James took a pay cut to maybe live in New York and commute to Philly by chopper, risking double taxation as NYC also tries to ban helicopters
Real Estate
LeBron James took a pay cut to maybe live in New York and commute to Philly by chopper, risking double taxation as NYC also tries to ban helicopters
By Catherina GioinoJuly 27, 2026
1 day ago
I've been teaching college students for decades. Most of them can no longer finish a book
Commentary
I've been teaching college students for decades. Most of them can no longer finish a book
By Austin SaratJuly 26, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.