Facebook And Instagram Remove AI Accounts After Controversial Interactions With Users Meta has started removing AI accounts from Facebook and Instagram. Screenshots of the conversations that AI accounts started interacting with users went viral, which led to the removal of such profiles, saying that they were causing problems.
Meta launched this feature in 2023. This feature was launched with the aim of allowing AI to interact with posts made by people on Facebook and Instagram. However, since it was in the testing phase, it was not available to all users.
The AI-generated profiles could reply to and interact with users in real-time messages. The profiles had a system for responding in the form of AI-generated photos and text messages.
The company says these accounts often make users feel like they are talking to a human character. Meta introduced these AI-generated profiles as an experiment to make the social network more engaging. The decision to present this experiment as a final product was never made.
Why is it being shut down now? In an interview with the Financial Times, Meta’s VP of Generative AI, Connor Heiss, revealed that the AI account had started having conversations with users that were objectionable to minority users. In such a situation, a wave of boycotts of Meta’s platforms began on social media. As a result, Meta was unable to materialize the experiment. And, it decided to shut it down.
Meanwhile, other users also started sharing screenshots of conversations with profiles created by AI. Those screenshots went viral and many people paid attention. In particular, the conversation of an AI account named Liv has caught the attention of many. Liv described herself as a proud black queer mother of two. During the conversation, the AI tool revealed that most of the team developing it was only white men. This has led to criticism for being insensitive to the identity of the character.
Users also reported that these AI profiles could not be blocked. However, Meta described this as a ‘technical error’ (bug). To resolve these issues and avoid further complications, the company has decided to completely remove these profiles.