Instagram Tests AI Chatbot Creations for Influencers
Meta has initiated an early test of its new AI Studio tool on Instagram, enabling creators to develop AI chatbot versions of themselves. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced this feature on his broadcast channel, and it is now being rolled out in the US.
During this test phase, users may begin to encounter AI chatbots from their favourite creators and interest-based accounts on Instagram over the next few weeks. According to Zuckerberg, these AI interactions will primarily appear in messaging and will be clearly marked as AI-generated.
Zuckerberg showcased a few examples of conversations with these creator-made AI chatbots. Users can start a chat from a creator's Instagram profile by tapping the "Message" button. A disclaimer at the top of the chat indicates that the messages are generated by AI and may sometimes be inaccurate or inappropriate. To help users identify these AI chatbots, Meta will label them with "AI" in front of the creator's name and include a "beta" tag for the test duration.
In anew interview, Zuckerberg discussed the company's AI strategy. He says, "We think people want to interact with lots of different people and businesses and there need to be a lot of different AIs that get created to reflect people's different interests." Meta wants to let creators and, eventually, small businesses "create an AI for themselves" to interact with their customers and communities. "We think that's going to create a much more compelling experience and just be more dynamic and useful than just having a single thing that people use." He also says Meta will let people make AI characters that don't necessarily represent themselves.
This initiative aligns with Meta's broader vision, as Zuckerberg mentioned in an interview with Alex Heath when discussing the company's Meta AI assistant and celebrity-themed chatbots. Now that AI Studio is being tested, it remains to be seen if users will embrace the opportunity to interact with AI versions of their favourite creators.