Oh wow, Meta, this may come as a surprise to a lot of people.
To remind you, back in September, when Meta first launched its new AI chatbots that communicate with users in the style of celebrities, we observed that:
“It seems more like a gimmick, which will definitely spark interest at first but fade quickly.”
So I’m not sure they created any buzz about it initially, but less than a year after launch, Meta has now quietly decided to retire its celebrity AI chatbots, many of which have gone offline.
The Information reports that Meta has decided to ditch its celebrity-styled chatbots, for which it paid millions to develop bots that looked like Chris Paul, Kendall Jenner, Charli D’Amelio, and other celebrities.
Why? Because the main components of Meta’s apps are not celebrity versions that are neither “social” nor human, no one wants to interact with them. Okay, so that’s about Meta, but have you thought about your Instagram followers? If you want to, just think carefully about our Instagram followers buy 1k 20 rs service and then get it.
While this is obviously not the case, Meta built Facebook and Instagram on human connection, connecting everyday people with their friends and the latest trends and topics. And bots don’t really fit in there anymore. You’d think Meta would have realized this after making a big show of Messenger bots in 2016.
Nobody cared about that back then, just like nobody cares now, because the value of social media networks is that they’re “social.” They keep us informed about what’s happening in the world. Then they give you that connection. They’re not the place to go if you want advice from a bot on calisthenics, and adding celebrity bots seems like an even more stupid idea in figuring out who uses social media.
Another aspect of the appeal of social media apps is that you can easily talk to real celebrities by commenting on their posts or tagging them in your posts. But they probably won’t respond to you even though they shouldn’t mind doing so. And then suddenly, you unfollow them, which doesn’t seem like so much distance between you and them, increasing your engagement.
This is a far cry from celebrity-style bots, which instead highlight how disconnected you are from the real elite of celebrity.
I don’t know why Meta believes that chatbots — whether AI-powered or not — would be a great addition to social apps. Still, it continues to promote its Meta AI chatbot and recently unveiled a new platform that lets developers create their custom bot versions.
We don’t understand why Meta can’t see that these features go against the whole ethos of social media, though, as Zuck and the company are adamant about riding the AI wave and becoming leaders in the generative AI market.
I feel that generative AI is the future of Meta’s broader metaverse vision.
That’s not what chatbots are for, though.
They haven’t been attracted to celebrities like they were, so I doubt many users would be interested in chatting with bots that mimic influencers on the app. Nor do I see Meta’s AI chatbot gaining much popularity.
But Meta AI is investing billions in chatbots, and it’s really getting people hooked.
AI-based chatbots inside social media apps will never be popular, but I believe they will eventually be popular with new VR creation forms.
