Meta’s flirtation with innovation has been, at best, poorly panning out and, at worst, delightfully creepy. The latter best describes the case of the tech company’s new foray into AI with machine-generated personas.
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News broke late last month that Meta would begin adding some new AI-generated personas to platforms like Instagram and Facebook in the coming weeks, and those personas are now live. Take, for example, Billie who is based on the likeness of model and socialite Kendall Jenner. According to her Instagram bio, Billie is “your local ride or die” based in New York City. A gray disclaimer tag indicated that the account is not, in fact, a human clone of Jenner but is “AI managed by Meta.” Billie’s feed is chock full of AI-generated imagery of photoshoot sets, brick oven pizza, a cheugy fall spread, and even an introductory Reel with a caption touting that “chatting with me is like having an older sister you can talk to, but who can’t steal your clothes.”
“Our journey with AIs is just beginning, and it isn’t purely about building AIs that only answer questions. We’ve been creating AIs that have more personality, opinions, and interests, and are a bit more fun to interact with,” Meta wrote in a release. “And because interacting with them should feel like talking to familiar people, we did something to build on this even further. We partnered with cultural icons and influencers to play and embody some of these AIs.”
Billie is one of 28 AI influencers that Meta has added to Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, all with a unique personality and a likeness based on some celebrity or public figure. The AI influencers began posting towards the end of September, and users can direct message these influencers and have a conversation with a chatbot, or browse their feeds for AI-generated content. These profiles may also feature an occasional video or selfie from the celebrities playing these AI characters, who shot content in a studio. Along the way, the faceless corporation tries its best to be hip and relatable with half-hearted attempts at sparking memes and generating social media challenges.
Meta is not breaking any new ground with these AI personas as virtual influencers were popularized by the likes of Lil Miquela, an artificial teenager who has a music career and has modeled for Calvin Klein. What Meta is doing is begging you to spend time on Instagram and use its in-house AI chatbot to spill your guts and ask for recipes. Whether or not people want to meme on the AI or genuinely interact with it, people will be using it, at least for a while. And numbers are numbers.
The AI influencers are one of Meta’s recent attempts to chase an ill-conceived trend that’s already beginning to trend downward along with a healthy dash of corporate cringe. Meta also recently revealed AI-generated stickers for Instagram and Facebook that are able to embody Elon Musk with boobs and school children holding guns.
Here are the 12 worst AI personas Meta unveiled in no particular order.
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