Snapchat is launching My AI, a new chatbot running a customized version of the latest GPT technology from OpenAI. Available as an experimental feature to subscribers with a $3.99 per month Snapchat+ account, My AI rolls out starting this week, offering everything from birthday gift recommendations to weekend recreational plans, recipes and auto-generated poetry and prose. “As with all AI-powered chatbots, My AI is prone to hallucination and can be tricked into saying just about anything,” Snapchat cautions, explaining that “all conversations with My AI will be stored and may be reviewed to improve the product experience.”

In a Snap Newsroom post, Snapchat warns customers not to share secrets with My AI nor “rely on it for advice.” While My AI is designed to avoid biased, incorrect, harmful, or misleading information, “mistakes may occur,” Snapchat offers, in an abundance of caution.

Users are instructed to “press and hold on any message from My AI to submit feedback” in the event the chatbot goes off the rails. My AI can be found pinned to the top of Snapchat’s Chat tab.

In preemptively addressing possible problems, Snapchat appears to have learned from Microsoft’s experience with OpenAI’s GPT-4 model integrating into the Bing search engine, reported as posting what TechCrunch calls “strange and unnerving responses” generated by the chatbot within the first week of release.

My AI isn’t designed as a search engine per se, instead it’s “a persona within Snapchat that you can chat with like you would with your friends,” TechCrunch writes, adding that “my AI was trained to have a unique voice and personality” that plays into Snapchat’s human “values about ‘friendship, learning and fun.’”

While OpenAI’s ChatGPT has taken off with consumers, notching record-breaking adoption, TechCrunch stresses a particular need for safety on Snapchat, which appeals to younger users.

“Our app reaches 750 million people per month, with 75 percent of 13- to 34-year-olds in over 20 countries,” claims Snap, as reported by TechCrunch. “Incorporating this technology into Snapchat’s messaging platform has the potential to make these interactions with AI part of what draws our community to Snapchat.”

“The big idea is that in addition to talking to our friends and family every day, we’re going to talk to AI every day,” The Verge quotes Snap CEO Evan Spiegel as saying. “And this is something we’re well positioned to do as a messaging service.”

Related:
Facebook Parent, Snap Embrace AI Technology That Powers ChatGPT Chatbot, The Wall Street Journal, 2/27/23