Meta wants to populate its social platforms with AI-generated bots

WTF?! Meta owns some of the most popular social networks on the planet, collectively used by billions of people. However, the future could see a shift towards bots and AI-generated “characters” designed to drive engagement and keep increasingly automated platforms afloat.

Meta is actively working to transform its social media platforms into spaces where AI bots interact with each other. Over the next few years, the company formerly known as Facebook aims to integrate AI technology to drive “engagement” with its three billion real, human users. This could either be a revolution, or just another disastrously wrong idea like the previously rejected “metaverse” VR ecosystem.

Meta is currently developing several AI products, including a service designed to help users create AI bots on Instagram and Facebook. These robots could clones users’ personalities and interact with other (non-bot) users on the network. The company is hoping to appeal to the younger audience, which seems to be going crazy over AI these days.

Connor Hayes, Meta’s vice president of products for generative AI, told the Financial Times that the company expects these AI bots to eventually be exist on its platform, as user accounts do today. Bots will have fake bios and profile pictures, sharing new “content” generated by AI models.

Integrating generative AI into Facebook, Instagram and other networks is now a priority, Hayes said. Meta apps need to become more fun and engaging. The executive noted that hundreds of thousands of characters have already been created with the previously released AI tools, which are currently available to users in the US and will soon expand to other markets.

An interesting tidbit shared by Hayes is that most of these fake AI characters have been kept private by their creators. This could be a telltale sign that very few content creators currently see generative AI as a mature, reliable and useful technology for increasing engagement.

Meta confirmed that most users used AI tools to beautify, adjust and enhance their photos and other “real-world” content. Other companies are also focusing on implementing generative AI capabilities into their respective networks, with Snapchat and TikTok doing their part to turn the social internet into a weird parody of itself.

Critics of this AI-filled dystopia warn of the risks of “weaponizing” AI-generated content. Becky Owen, chief innovation officer at creative agency Billion Dollar Boy and former head of Meta’s creative team, said fake AI accounts could easily be used to amplify false narratives if safeguards are not in place solid on social media.