Meta has apparently concocted a playful batch of chatbots, each with its own distinct personality, for users to interact with.
They include a sassy robot, a lewd character named Gavin, and an inquisitive alien. Judging by their mischievous personas, we’re half expecting Mark Zuckerberg to warn users not to feed them after midnight.
The Gremlins, sorry AI chatbots, could be unleashed on Instagram and Facebook as soon as Wednesday, reports The Wall Street Journal.
That’s when the annual Meta Connect conference kicks off, which should still be headlined by the company’s new virtual reality headset, the Meta Quest 3.
But, the barmy bots could hog the limelight for all the wrong reasons. Meta’s employees, who have been testing them out in secret, reportedly raised question marks over their indignant remarks and thirst for user information.
A robot, an alien and a misogynist walk into a bar
One of the digital characters is called “Bob the Robot” and is a self-described sassmaster general with “superior intellect, sharp wit, and biting sarcasm.”
The bot apparently owes its personality quirks to Bender, the insolent droid from the cult cartoon series Futurama.
Another chatbot called “Alvin the Alien” has all the inquisitiveness of an ET who has crash landed on Earth.
“Human, please! Your species holds fascination for me. Share your experiences, thoughts, and emotions! I hunger for understanding,” the AI agent apparently writes.
Finally, a rude bot named Gavin serves up misogynistic responses, including references to female anatomy. The bot was also shown to make fun of Zuckerberg, and praise rival apps such as TikTok.
For now, there’s no guarantee these bots will be unveiled this week. Meta has been hyping up the AI agents since February, with numerous reports claiming they could arrive on Instagram and its sister app Threads this year.
The problem with chatbots
Despite the overnight success of viral chatbot ChatGPT in December, Meta hasn’t rushed out its own chatty assistants. It seems that the company wants to avoid any embarrassing faux-pas from the error-prone tech - a problem that its rivals have had to contend with in recent months.
Google’s Bard, for instance, spouted an incorrect answer during a demo, which caused the company’s stock price to plummet. In February, Microsoft’s Bing AI tried to gaslight a user into thinking that the year was 2022. And, Snapchat’s My AI has displayed unsettling behaviour that has made users paranoid about its true intentions.
Alas, some of those bizarre interactions would have been provoked by the bot’s users, plenty of who seem hellbent on coaxing outlandish answers from the AI systems.
Nevertheless, Meta appears to be bullish on the tech, and its ability to get people to spend more time on its services, especially teens and twenty-somethings.
Ultimately, it’s planning to develop dozens of AI personality chatbots. The company has also reportedly worked on a product that would allow celebrities and creators to use their own AI chatbots to interact with fans and followers.
Although there are existing services that already let you talk to AI characters and celeb voice bots, they’re mostly from smaller firms and tech startups. Meta, on the other hand, has the eyeballs and cash to muscle the tech into the mainstream.
