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In September 2023, Meta it made a big deal of its new AI chatbots that used the likeness of celebrities: everyone from Kendall Jenner to MrBeast have hired themselves to play AI characters on Instagram and Facebook. Celebrity-based bots were killed last summer after less than a year, but users recently found a handful of other entirely fake bot profiles still floating around — and the reaction isn’t good.
There are “Jane Austen“a cynical novelist and storyteller”; “Liv“, whose bio claims she is a “black queer mother of 2 & truth-teller”; and “Carter“which promises to give users relationship advice. All are labeled as “AI managed by Meta” and the profiles date back to when the initial announcement was made. But the more than a dozen AI characters apparently don’t they have not been very popular: each has only a few thousand followers, with their posts receiving only a few likes and comments.
“What the hell does an AI know about dating????” read a recent comment on the AI dating coach bot profile. “This is not just virtual blackface, but it’s just weird,” one commenter wrote in a post on Liv’s page.
Another point of ire is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to block bots through the typical channels: the option to block or restrict profiles is missing.
Many of the AI bots have not shared new content on their grid since the beginning of 2024, and it is not clear how (or if) users have found and engaged with these profiles in the last year. Last week, the Financial Times reported that Meta envisions a future where social media platforms are filled with AI bots.
“We expect these AIs to actually exist, over time, in our platforms, somewhat in the same way as accounts,” Connor Hayes, vice president of product for generative AI at Meta, told the outlet. “They’ll have bios and profile pictures and they’ll be able to generate and share AI-powered content on the platform. . . . that’s where we see everything happening.”
The idea of purposefully flooding social media with bots is ridiculous on its face, but it’s in line with how Meta has promoted generative AI tools. Anyone in the US can make a chatbot of yourselfwith the idea that users can send their bots in their place to chat with followers. Chatbot services like Character.ai have caught in the last year with people looking for a digital friend or just a way to pass the time – but AI companies are too face the trials accusing them of endangering users, including children.
Meta did not immediately respond The VirginQuestions about the role of these profiles, if they are actively developed, and if human users are also engaged with them.
