Here’s an idea for my friends in the media business who run news properties with reduced readership: You can always take a page from Meta, and just… increase your customer base with AI-generated users. I’m kidding, like, but that’s actually what Facebook and Instagram are going to do – specifically, they’re reportedly launching AI-generated accounts that will share content and interact with real human users, even if the accounts are bots. as real as the Easter Bunny.
To be honest, it confuses me whether this is a real idea, dreamed up by a human being, but it really is in the Meta life cycle. Bots will be the new influencers on Facebook and Instagram. “We expect this AI to actually, over time, be on our platform, in the same way as accounts,” said Connor Hayes, Meta’s vice president of product for generative AI, in an interview with Financial Times. “They’ll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share AI-powered content on the platform . . . that’s where we see all of this going.
Like every major tech company these days, parent Facebook is getting involved with AI – and to be honest, it’s launching or teasing some interesting offerings down the line that range from text bots like ChatGPT and a variety of video creation and photo editing. gear. That said, I can’t help but feel incredibly cynical about all these fake user ideas. Seriously, how about calling investors with analysts during a monthly earnings presentation, if this idea takes off? “It was another great quarter, with user engagement through the roof – and next quarter, we expect to add even more users.”
already- right now! – I see so much AI-generated slop on Instagram and Facebook that is another factor dampening the experience for me. It took me two seconds to come up with the various drawbacks to this idea of AI-created user accounts, from the account causing misinformation to the AI spreading propaganda, fake news, fraud, or even just nonsense that makes people want users. Facebook and Instagram are lacking.
To that last point, the only way I can use Facebook now without wanting to tear my hair out is to immediately ignore the main News Feed, which is overflowing with recommended posts that I don’t care about, and go to the “Feed” tab to check on the page that I have liked and people I connected. Imagine, users who (wait for it!) only want to follow things they like. I can hear the condescending laughter of Meta executives here, all the way from the company’s executive suite in California.
