Meta Inc. is removing the profiles of several AI characters from Facebook and Instagram after some of them created over a year ago were rediscovered by users, sparking a viral controversy.
These AI-generated profiles were first introduced by Meta in September 2023, but most of them were removed last year.
Meta executive Connor Hayes recently said the company is looking forward to introducing more AI characters. Some of the AI products the company plans to roll out will allow users to create AI characters on Instagram and Facebook.
“We expect these AIs to actually live on our platform over time, just like accounts,” Hayes said. Financial Times.
Meta's “priority” for the next two years was to make the app “more interesting and engaging,” Hayes said, adding that these accounts have profiles and profile pictures, and that “we have a lot of people on the platform. “It will be possible to generate and share AI-powered content.” . . That's where we see this all going. ”
The automated account posted AI-generated photos on Instagram and responded to messages from human users in Messenger.
In those profiles, Liv describes herself as a “proud black queer mom of two and a truth teller,” while Carter uses the handle “Date with Carter” and is a human being. Claimed to be a relationship coach. Both contained a label indicating that they were managed by Meta.
Screenshots of conversations with these AI characters, especially where users asked questions such as who created or developed the AI, have gone viral on social media.
Liv claimed that her creative team does not include any black people and is made up primarily of white men. In response to a question from Washington Post columnist Karen Attia, she said this was a “pretty obvious omission given my identity.”
The profiles started disappearing shortly after they went viral on social media. Some users claimed that these profiles could not be blocked, but Meta spokeswoman Liz Sweeney said this was a bug.
Sweeney claimed these accounts were part of a 2023 AI experiment and were controlled by humans. Meta removed the profile to fix a bug that prevented users from blocking it, Sweeney added.
“There is confusion,” Sweeney said in a statement, adding that the recent Financial Times article “is not an announcement of a new product, but rather a reflection of our vision for the long-term AI characters on our platform. “It's about,” he added.
The company had released 28 personas in 2023, but all were shut down on Friday. guardian Reported.
“These were controlled by humans and were part of an early experiment we conducted with AI characters. We identified a bug that was impacting the ability of humans to block these AIs, and we identified a bug that was affecting the ability of humans to block these AIs and We are deleting those accounts to resolve the issue,” Sweeney added.
