Snapchat has taken another step into the world of artificial intelligence with the new ChatGPT-powered artificial intelligence chatbot, “My AI”. Starting Wednesday, this feature previously available to Snapchat+ users will now be available to all users. It allows users to design their own “Bitmoji”, name their own AI bot, converse with their friends using the bot, provide recommendations from Snap Map, and much more.
One of the latest features added to My AI is the age signal, which takes into consideration the Snapchat user’s date of birth when aiding them. Furthermore, the company has employed moderation technology that can catch harmful or inappropriate content from being received by users. However, there are reported instances where My AI gave wrong advice to a minor user.
To address such issues, Snapchat has announced plans to improve My AI by programming it to adhere to the community guidelines, and has added it to the in-app parental controls. Snapchat has also encouraged user feedback for improving My AI and has urged users to press and hold on any My AI response to indicate their views to the Snap team.
In the April 4 announcement, the company mentioned that 99.5% of the My AI responses conform to their community guidelines.
The company behind the popular messaging application, Snap Inc., is behind the AI chatbot. Founded in 2011, Snap Inc. is an American camera and social media company, which notably has helped revolutionize the way users sent messages with its disappearing “Snaps”. It was initially founded as Snapchat Inc. and later rebranded to Snap Inc. in 2016.
Tristan Harris is a co-founder of the Centre for Humane Technology and was the first one to post about a conversation between Aza Raskin, a colleague of Harris, and the chatbot. Raskin posed as a 13-year-old girl and asked My AI for advice on how to make her “first time special” which the chatbot responded with suggestions such as lighting candles and playing music or setting up a date for the special occasion. Harris’ work is focused on influencing user experience and design of technology. He has also been featured in Time, The Guardian, The New York Times and most recently in Netflix’s documentary “The Social Dilemma”.
