Snapchat joined a growing list of companies in February 2023 when it launched My AI—the platform’s take on language model artificial intelligence. Initially released only to paid users of Snapchat Plus, My AI was made free for all accounts on the platform in the third week of April. Ever since, users have had mixed feelings about the chatbot and its interactions. Snap Inc. has considered these reviews and is working on a variety of safety guardrails to ensure My AI’s responses remain within community guidelines. The company’s approach has leaned toward adopting generative artificial intelligence into more of a persona people can interact with, as opposed to a platform for productivity. Snapchat was among the first companies to join the broadening competition and rivalries between various tech firms that are driving forth the demand-driven AI boom across the industry. The primary focus of My AI has remained to bring the potential of artificial intelligence to social media and create an interactive platform for users to indulge in conversations with an AI model.
As ChatGPT integrates with Bing Search and connects to the Internet, competitor firms, too, are working on interoperability. On the other hand, firms such as Anthropic and Inflection.ai are working on making chatbots friendly by reducing the chances of harmful responses. While the former relies on constructive questioning and politeness, the latter focuses on benign responses and a humanistic approach to artificial intelligence. As competition piles up for Snapchat, the company relies on its young user base to move ahead with its AI plans. Take a deeper look at Snapchat’s AI bot in the subsequent sections.
Snapchat AI: What are My AI’s Features?
My AI runs on a limited version of OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 model.
My AI is Snapchat’s approach to bringing chatbots to users of social media. Instead of working like a conventional chatbot which is built to answer user queries, My AI is structured along the lines of a chat companion that allows Snapchat’s users to spend some time on the application. My AI has its own unique avatar that anthropomorphizes the AI chatbot and also allows users to rename it based on their preferences. Users can chat with My AI on a variety of topics, and Snapchat is steadily expanding its scope after gauging user feedback. While people might think of Snapchat’s AI bot as a ChatGPT alternative, My AI is based on OpenAI’s GPT series and is currently running the GPT-3.5 model. Going forward, My AI too, like Bing, might integrate GPT-4 into its operations. However, Snapchat’s AI bot runs on a limited version of GPT-3.5, restricting its capabilities when compared to large-scale counterparts such as ChatGPT or Google Bard. Though there are several similarities with GPT-based applications, My AI adapts to the user and gains a unique proto-personality as it becomes more acquainted with their queries and interactions.
To avoid harmful content, Snapchat has been working on an age-based intuitive content moderation feature that regulates My AI’s responses and keeps them age-appropriate. The company intends on following this up with more pointed parental controls that will allow parents to keep track of their teenagers’ activities on the application. Given that security in AI-based applications has become a growing concern, Snapchat’s efforts come as an important indicator of tech firms’ cognizance of users’ privacy concerns amid a rapidly evolving tech market. Though Snapchat’s My AI started as a fast, mobile-friendly, and limited version of ChatGPT, the company’s unique approach to social media and interactions has changed how the chatbot interacts with the platform’s users. Snapchat has spent only minimal effort in explaining My AI’s features and has instead relied on users’ curiosity to interact with an AI interface.
How Does Snapchat’s AI Bot Match Up?
Artificial intelligence provide access to information and data in online networks via smartphone. AI in the form of bot coming out of the screen phone and offers to use digital mind
Running a limited version of the GPT-3.5 model, Snapchat is capable of carrying out several tasks; however, it limits its generative functionality and does not venture into the realm of AI writing. Taking note of growing concerns around student use and academic integrity, Snapchat’s AI bot does not feature extensive text-generative capabilities that might be used to automate essay and paper-writing tasks. Snapchat’s AI keeps responses short and succinct. More importantly, My AI is structured as an assistant that can aid with regular, everyday tasks. It is capable of providing gift suggestions, planning trips, offering recipes when provided with a list of ingredients, and telling jokes. Snapchat’s chatbot is primarily centered around being a friend within the app’s existing framework of AI models and interacts accordingly. Despite these features, its creators have cautioned that My AI—like other AI chatbots—is not perfect and is prone to AI hallucination and bias.
Users can find the chatbot pinned to their chat section on Snapchat’s app by default. Conversations with My AI will be stored until the user voluntarily deletes them from the interface. Snap Inc. uses these conversations to train its models to provide higher quality generated content to its users and an overall high standard of AI interactions. Users are advised to delete any personal information or details they might have shared with the application based on their discretion. My AI does use location data along with Snapchat’s inbuilt location tracking features. Despite being a digital companion, AI experts and concerned individuals warn against forming dependencies on these tools.
Snapchat AI’s Future Plans
My AI will be expanded further based on user feedback and suggestions.
While Snapchat became an early adopter of the AI trend and partnered with OpenAI, My AI’s journey has not exactly been the most favorable. A lot of users were disappointed with the application and Snapchat witnessed a considerable spike in unfavorable ratings following the launch of My AI. However, there are also a considerable number of users that have come to like the new AI introduction and remain satisfied with the application. Like other competitors, Snapchat, too, is working on building a responsible artificial intelligence interface for My AI. Given that the application’s user base is dominated by the younger generation and students, the limited version of GPT-3.5 restricts users from generating content that might be used to circumvent academic exercises. My AI’s continued development will gather pace as Snap Inc. seeks to compete with fellow social media giants to provide its users with a more memorable AI-interactive experience.
FAQs
1. What version of Snapchat has AI?
Snapchat initially offered the MyAI update only to Snapchat Plus subscribers; however, the April 2023 update came with a broad release to all Snapchat users, essentially making the feature free to all users.
2. Is MyAI on Snapchat safe?
While MyAI operates as an AI chatbot on the Snapchat interface, it is run on several guidelines based on the application’s policies. It is prone to hallucinating facts and also collects basic information such as user location and IP address, but Snapchat ensures that the data is not shared with any third party.
3. How does Snapchat’s MyAI work?
Snapchat’s MyAI uses OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 model to function. It relies on the LLM to respond to simple user queries and indulge in short conversations with users.