The next time you DM a creator on Instagram, you can get a reply from their AI. The meta is starting to spread itself AI StudioA set of tools that will allow Instagram creators to create an AI persona that can answer questions and chat with their followers and fans on their behalf.
The company first introduced AI Studio at the Connect event last fall but it started recently to try artificial intelligences developed by a creator with a handful of prominent Instagrammers. Now, Meta is making the tools available to more US-based creators and giving the rest of its users a chance to experiment with custom AI “characters.”
According to Meta, the new creative AIs are designed to solve a long-standing problem for Instagram users with large followings: it can be nearly impossible for the service’s most popular users to keep up with the flow of messages they receive every day. Connor Hayes, vice president of product for AI Studio at Meta, says they will now be able to create AI that acts as an “extension of themselves.”
“These creators can actually use the comments they make, the captions they write, the transcripts of the Reels they post, as well as any custom instructions or links they want to provide… AI can respond on their behalf,” Hayes tells Engadget.
Mark Zuckerberg has suggested that he has big ambitions for such chatbots. In a recent interview with Bloomberg he said he expects Meta’s apps to eventually have “hundreds of millions” of creator-developed AIs. However, it’s unclear whether Instagram users will be interested in engaging with AI versions of their favorite creators. Meta has previously experimented with AI chatbots that assume personalities from celebrities Like Snoop Dogg and Kendall Jenner, however, these “characters” have largely proven to be weak.
“One of the things that gets a little confusing for people is, ‘I’m talking to a celebrity who embodies this AI, or I’m talking to an AI and they’re playing a character,'” Meta Hayes said of celebrity-branded chatbots. “We think that public figures themselves or their It will be clearer to go in this direction where it can represent AI with an extension.”
AI Studio isn’t just for creators. Meta will also allow any user to create custom AI “characters” that can chat about specific topics, create memes or give advice. Just like the creator-focused characters, these chatbots will be powered by Meta’s new ones Llama 3.1 model. Users can share their chatbot creations and track how many people are using them, although they won’t be able to see how other users interact with them.
The new chatbots are the latest way Meta is getting its users to spend more time with AI squeezes More and more places in meta AI applications. But Meta AI is also sometimes struggled pass accurate information In a blog post, Meta notes that “policies and safeguards are in place to keep people safe and help AIs be used responsibly.”
Screenshots provided by the company show that conversations with the new AI characters will also have a familiar disclaimer: “Some AI-generated messages may be inaccurate or inappropriate.”
