Creator Spotlight: The AI Expert Teaching 500,000 on InstagramStanford-educated computer scientist Harper Carroll demystifies what’s ‘under the hood’
I cover the creator economy at Like & Subscribe, a standalone newsletter that’s being sampled today for subscribers to The Ankler. I wrote about the debate among creators over whether to form a union; talked to Mark Fischbach (aka Markiplier) about his film, Iron Lung; scooped Substack’s new TV app; and wrote about TikTok’s and BuzzFeed’s moves in vertical video. I’m natalie@theankler.com
Happy Friday, and welcome to another edition of my new Creator Spotlight series. You can check out last week’s interview with Fantasy Footballers host Andy Holloway here, no football knowledge required. But today I have something completely different: In just a few short years, AI and its potential to change our workplaces and creative spaces shifted from the theoretical to the very real. But for all the striking ways the tech is changing how we live and work, it can still feel frustratingly complex. Enter Harper Carroll, a Stanford-educated computer scientist who has spent her career working with AI models at companies like Meta and startup Brev.dev, which was acquired by NVIDIA in 2024. She’s made it her mission to educate people about AI on Instagram, where she has more than 535,000 followers. “I hear a lot from people afraid of AI without knowing fully what it is,” says Carroll, 30, who lives in Austin, Texas. “It’s less scary when you actually look under the hood.” Carroll, who dreamt of being an actor when she was a kid, was instead on track for a career as a tech executive when, in 2023, she built a coding guide and posted it to X. Although she had only 30 followers, the post accumulated more than 50,000 views, so she decided to start sharing her knowledge about on the platform. In 2024, she began posting to Instagram, where she regularly breaks down the big AI headlines and helps people understand AI 101. Her 10 Days of AI Basics series on the app has been particularly popular, growing her Instagram audience from around 2,000 to over 200,000 followers in just three weeks. She now regularly works with brands like Microsoft and enterprise AI platform Workday.  Carroll, who also posts regularly to YouTube and TikTok, has expanded to Substack, where she plans to bring deeper, more thoughtful writing about AI to her audience. She also tells me exclusively that she’s launching a four-week course — From AI User to AI Builder — that will help people learn the fundamentals of how AI models really work and how to use them to bring their ideas to life. “I want to equip everyone to not only understand how these models work and how to prompt them but how to actually use these vibe coding tools to your benefit,” says Carroll, referencing AI products that allow people with no engineering background to code. “There has not been a technology like this in our lifetimes,” she adds. “I just want to get it into the hands of as many people as I possibly can because it is so empowering.”
 What do you want people to learn from your videos about a topic that can still seem big and scary, especially to people in creative fields? Harper Carroll: One of the things that I try to tell people is that AI is so much more than just large language models and generative models. It is smart decision making from data — well, machine learning is, and AI today basically is equivalent. Machine learning is learning from data, and it’s not just these generative AI models like image generation, audio generation, text generation. But AI as a whole is gathering insights from data, and those types of models are so enormously powerful, and being able to gather insights from data and make smart decisions is something that should be applied to every single industry everywhere. There are possibilities for health advancement, cancer treatments, longevity and education, personalized education for kids. There’s a lot of benefits. There are a lot of ethical concerns that are still being raised around these image-generation models. Those need to be very thoughtfully considered, and it’s important that we know that’s just one type of AI. There’s so much more than that, and the positive possibilities are endless. There’s a lot for you to cover just focusing on AI, but have you considered expanding into education on adjacent topics? AI is going to be applied to every single industry, everywhere. So that’s broad enough. But my spirituality and belief is really important to me. I have a podcast (The Polymath Pod) with my best friend, Kayla Barnes-Lentz — she’s a longevity expert and we talk about longevity and AI and science, and also relationships and our faith. What can your followers expect from your Substack? I have a weekly news update that I send out, and someone responded, “Hey, this is great but I would love your take on things. I can get the news from other places. I’d love to know your thoughts.” So I want to share more of those kinds of musings.
Fast 5 QuestionsWhat was the first time you made money as a creator? It was about a year-and-a-half ago, and I was working with a software company to share about a large language model that they had launched. Describe a time when you’ve been recognized out in public. I was at a conference and someone came up to me. He had a stand for an AI company, and he was like, “You’re the reason that I have my company. I was so intimidated by AI, and now I have a company that’s making a million or so ARR (annual recurring revenue) at least — and it’s still starting, and I’m so happy. Thank you so much for educating me.” It’s nice to meet people in person, because sometimes it feels like you’re talking into a void. Who’s your dream collab? Paris Hilton. I love that she is a really smart businesswoman. She does a lot for neurodivergent girls, and I love how she embraces being pink and embraces herself. She’s a great role model for women and girls.  What’s on your For You feed? Obviously AI content. But also baby content. I have friends who are pregnant, and now I see all this pregnancy content. Who’s making you laugh on the internet right now? Corporate Natalie. I just giggle at her videos. 
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