Snapchat has launched an experimental artificial intelligence chatbot that leverages OpenAI’s ChatGPT service. Some users have gained access to the new feature that is called “My AI” running on the latest version of GPT tech particularly customized for Snapchat.
My AI is being rolled out to Snapchat+ subscribers throughout this week. Announced in a blog post, Snap has only confirmed the rollout of this feature for Snapchat+ subscribers at the moment. It might or might not make its way to free users of the app.
In a blog post, Snap acknowledged that My AI might be susceptible to making mistakes in the beginning, but the company’s goal is to avoid “biased, incorrect, harmful, or misleading information.”
My AI will be pinned to the app’s chat tab above conversation with friends. The fun sidekick can “recommend birthday gift ideas for your BFF, plan a hiking trip for a long weekend, suggest a dinner recipe, or even write a haiku about cheese for your cheddar-obsessed pal,” Snapchat said in a blog post. You could even customize it further by giving it a name and a wallpaper for your Chat.
“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,” Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel told The Verge. “And this is something we’re well positioned to do as a messaging service,” he said.
Snap is asking early access users to give feedback on the bot as it becomes available. The company also plans to save all conversations to assess the chatbot. Based on this review and feedback therein, Snapchat will continue to improve the chatbot. This isn’t a surprise, for all AI systems get better with more data, but they’re also susceptible to factual errors and bias.
While ChatGPT has quickly become a productivity tool, Snap’s implementation treats generative AI more like a persona. My AI’s profile page looks like any other Snapchat user’s profile, albeit with its own alien Bitmoji.
The design suggests that My AI is meant to be another friend inside of Snapchat for you to hang out with, not a search engine. For now, Snap has urged users against sharing personal information with the chatbot