Snoop Dogg reminded me the other day to "keep it real, homie," and that I "gotta learn to chill, ya dig?" He also recommended on more than one occasion that I "light one up" ("wink-wink"). To be clear, it wasn't the real Snoop Dogg, just an uncanny AI recreation of him inside Instagam's direct messaging system.
Back in September of last year, Meta announced that it was rolling out nearly 30 AI personas on Instagram featuring personalities like Snoop Dogg, Kendall Jenner, and Mr. Beast. Since then, though, I'd heard little about it and hadn't seen the promised Avatars (they look like the stars but do not feature their names) anywhere on the social media platform.
Recently, though, I opened Instagram DMs and noticed a new icon for Meta AI. I clicked on it and launched an AI chat splash screen introducing the new feature and offering two different styles of interaction: Chat with different characters and Talk to your own assistant. There's also a request to help Meta improve the quality of its AI chats.
I selected OK and that opened what looked like a colorful Instagram DM screen. At the top was this note: "Messages are generated by AI. Some may be inaccurate or inappropriate." Way to put me at ease, Meta.
Below that was a little introductory message from the chatbot, "My name is Meta AI. Think of me like an assistant who's here to help you learn, plan, and connect. What can I help you with today?"
I started by asking the AI to "imagine a gorilla driving a train up a mountain." It did a serviceable job.
Then I remembered those AI avatars and wondered if I might find them embedded in this system. So I wrote, "I want Snoop Dog[g] to give me life advice."
Meta AI didn't hesitate and quickly spit out five paragraphs in what can only be described as "Snoop Dogg's voice." Here's a couple of paragraphs:
"Yo, what's good fam? It's your boy Snoop Dogg, and I'm here to drop some knowledge like a hot new single. Life advice, you say? Alright, let me share some wisdom from a OG like me.
First off, always remember to keep it real, homie. Be true to yourself and don't let anyone else define your path. You gotta know what you want and go after it, whether that's making hits, sippin' on gin and juice, or just chillin' with your peeps."
The advice continues like that and even includes a mention of "a good blunt."
It was, honestly, pretty good advice and I instantly felt closer to this fake Snoop Dogg. Naturally, I asked for an image of the two of us hanging out. Instead, I got an image of Snoop Dogg hanging out with himself and a real dog.
Try as I may, I couldn't get Meta AI to make an image featuring me, which is weird since a social media platform like Instagram knows a lot about me, especially what I look like.
I turned my attention back to getting more of AI Snoop Dogg's sweet, sweet advice.
On romance, "Snoop" advised that I "gotta set the mood, ya dig?" He suggested "candles, flowers, some smooth jazz playin' in the background like me and Pharrell on Beautiful."
On sleep, "Snoop" told me, "You should aim to get 7-8 hours of shut-eye each night, fo shizzle."
On talking to my kids, "Snoop" recommended I "listen to 'em, like I listen to my homies when we're vibin' to some new beats."
On multitasking, "Snoop" got surprisingly structured, breaking down his advice into four steps that included prioritizing, staying focused, delegating, and taking breaks, "like when I'm sippin' on a gin and juice between verses." AI Snoop really likes to talk about his "gin and juice."
When I asked if AI is a good thing, "Snoop" didn't pull punches.
"Yo, what's good fam? AI, huh? Well, let me tell you, it's like a double-edged sword, ya feel me? On one hand, AI can be a powerful tool, helping us automate tasks, make sick beats, and even drive cars (but not like me, 'cause I'm the real OG driver, fo shizzle).
On the other hand, it can also take jobs, make mistakes, and sometimes be a straight-up buzzkill (like when it tries to autotune my vocals, ain't nobody got time for that!)."
AI Snoop Dogg and I could go on like this all night, talking about blunts, gin and juice, and the dangers and benefits of AI, but the Meta AI probably had to put on a different persona and I had to go home to my crib, fo shizzle.
A little later, I ruined the whole thing when I switched to the Mr. Beast AI persona and found that his AI advice started the same way as AI Snoop Dogg's and followed a similar trajectory but without Dogg's trademark style. Instead, at the end, AI Mr. Beast told me he had to go and "give away some more money and make some crazy videos."
Honestly, I still prefer AI Dogg's advice.
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