Instagram, with AI influencers can create virtual versions of themselves

Instagram recently unveiled “AI Studio,” a new feature that allows content creators to develop custom AI chatbots. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, personally announced the news, specifying that it is currently being tested in the United States. During the testing period, Zuckerberg explained that users may start to see AI chatbots from their favorite creators and AI based on their interests. At the moment, these chatbots will be visible mainly in messaging conversations and will be clearly identified as artificial intelligence.

Zuckerberg shared some demo videos of conversations with these creator-created chatbots. By visiting a creator’s profile on Instagram, users can start a conversation by clicking the “Message” button. A notification at the top of the chat will say that the messages are AI-generated and warn that some may be inaccurate or inappropriate. Meta has decided to add an “AI” badge in front of the creator’s name and, at least for now, a “beta” label after the person’s name. “We’ve been working closely with creators to develop these AIs so they can answer questions from their followers and interact in fun and helpful ways,” Zuckerberg said. “It’s early days and this is the first beta, so we’ll continue to work to improve them and make them available to more people in the future.”

In a recent interview, Zuckerberg elaborated on the company’s strategy for AI. He said, “We believe people want to interact with multiple individuals and companies, and that we need to create multiple different AIs to reflect people’s interests.” Meta plans to allow creators and, in the future, even small businesses to “build their own AI” to interact with their communities and customers. “We think that will provide a much more engaging and dynamic experience than having one AI that everyone uses.” Zuckerberg also said Meta will allow users to create AI characters that don’t necessarily represent themselves.