- In 2023, Meta rolled out some AI-generated accounts on Instagram and Facebook.
- Now, after users started calling out their fake and "cringey" posts, Meta has removed them from its platforms.
- Meta says the AI profiles have been removed to fix the bug that prevented users from blocking AI accounts.
In September 2023, Meta rolled out around 28 experimental AI profiles on Instagram and Facebook. A profile named Carter (@datingwithcarter) gave relationship advice, another account named Liv (@himamaliv) was a “Proud Black queer momma of 2”, and Brian (@hellograndpabrian) was a retired businessman. All these AI profiles were managed by Meta.
Now, Meta has started deleting these AI-generated bot profiles after users started commenting on posts shared by the AI profiles. Users say the posts are “cringe”, fake, and weird. Some are unhappy that they can’t block these AI profiles on Instagram and Facebook.
Last week, Connor Hayes, VP of Generative AI at Meta told the Financial Times, “We expect these AIs to actually, over time, exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way that accounts do. They’ll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform … that’s where we see all of this going.“
Recently, The Washington Post reported that users are spending significantly more time chatting with AI companions than popular AI chatbots like ChatGPT, and Gemini. According to the report, on average, a user spends around 93 minutes on Character AI in a day, in comparison to just 12 minutes on ChatGPT. With AI profiles directly available on Instagram and Facebook, Meta might want to tap those young audiences.
Note that, Character AI has been held responsible for a teenager’s suicide in Florida who formed a deep attachment with an AI character.
By the way, Meta spokesperson Liz Sweeney reached out to The Verge and said, “The recent Financial Times article was about our vision for AI characters existing on our platforms over time, not announcing any new product.” She further said that the AI accounts are being removed to fix the bug that prevented users from blocking the AI profiles.
It looks like Meta will continue adding more AI profiles and characters on Instagram and Facebook over time. Do you think AI characters are helpful, and should Meta expand AI companions on social media? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
