Snapchat hasn’t been this contentious since 2015 when it removed public best friends lists.
My AI, the photo messaging app’s chatbot, was made available to all users last week. The feature is powered by Open AI’s GPT technology and is designed to respond to your messages as if they were from a friend. However, many users are complaining that the new feature is interfering with their ability to communicate with their actual friends.
My AI is pinned to the top of users’ Chat feeds, above even their recently snapped and pinned friends. There is no way to remove My AI from the top of your feed if you do not subscribe to Snapchat+ for $3.99 per month.
Techcrunch(opens in a new tab) reported an increase in 1-star Snapchat reviews following My AI’s launch, indicating that at least a portion of Snapchat’s user base is dissatisfied with the chatbot.
@fishnecks(opens in a new tab) writes in a TikTok that has over 3.7 million views and 510,000 likes, “when my Snapchat AI thinks it has the right to be pinned above my bf.” The video’s caption reads, “PLS HOW DO I GET RID OF IT.” Thousands of comments on the video echo TikTokker’s disappointment. “The $4 was worth it to unpin,” one says.
” Another user says, “I blocked Team Snapchat from sending me anything, so why would I want this robot?” Others have threatened to leave Snapchat if it continues to allow only paid users to hide the AI bot.
But it’s not just My AI’s prominent placement that has Snapchat users riled up. My AI makes use of the data collected by Snapchat about each user to make its interactions feel more like a conversation with a friend. Some may consider this a violation of their privacy.
Users are particularly concerned about its access to their location; screenshots of My AI recommending nearby restaurants gained traction on Twitter and TikTok. Snapchat and other social media platforms have been collecting user data for years, but My AI personifies that data collection, making its knowledge of you eerily obvious.
This Snapchat AI just tried to gaslight me pic.twitter.com/daGCCXQToC
— wolfe (@rewolfe27) April 19, 2023
The chatbot was also chastised(opens in a new tab) one month ago, when it was a Snapchat+ exclusive feature, for providing inappropriate and unsafe responses after being informed that it was speaking to young teenagers. Snapchat announced in a statement(opens in a new tab) that My AI only provided “non-conforming” responses to 0.01% of users. My AI will also be aware of a user’s age in the future, and it has “worked vigorously to improve its responses to inappropriate Snapchatter requests, regardless of a Snapchatter’s age.”
Despite the criticism, some users have embraced My AI, referring to it as their bestie or homie and employing it to complete homework assignments. One TikTok(opens in a new tab) with over 10,000 likes, for example, reads, “me talking to the new AI bot thing on my Snapchat when I’m bored.”
