Meta's first foray into AI character profiles went about as well as you'd expect

Summary

Meta is deleting its AI characters off of Facebook and Instagram.
Screenshots of unflattering conversations with Meta’s original AI characters started surfacing online.
Users can still create their own AI chatbots using Meta’s AI Studio.

Meta’s plans for AI characters on Facebook and Instagram appear to be backfiring.

The social media giant is deleting Facebook and Instagram profiles of its AI characters, which it first introduced in 2023. Meta deleted most of its AI characters in the summer of 2024; however, a few remained, which the company has now deleted.

According to The Guardian, one of these AI characters was called Liv, and her profile described her as a “proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller.” However, when users asked Liv questions, things didn’t go well for the Meta AI character.

Karen Attiah, a columnist for the Washington Post, asked Liv about the demographics of her creators, to which the AI character responded, saying her creator team is “predominantly white” with “zero black characters” and that it was a “pretty glaring omission given my identity.” You can check out the full conversation that was posted on Bluesky below.

Instagram app on phone on colored background

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Maybe AI characters aren’t the future after all

Meta maybe rethinking its plans for AI characters on Facebook and Instagram

Renewed interest in Meta’s AI characters came after Connor Hayes, vice president of product for generative AI at Meta, spoke about AI characters existing on Meta’s platforms like real people do in an interview with the Financial Times. “They’ll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform,” Hayes said. “That’s where we see all of this going.”

Liz Sweeney, a spokesperson for Meta, said in a statement to The Guardian that “the recent Financial Times article was about our vision for AI characters existing on our platforms over time, not announcing any new product.” It’s possible Meta might be rethinking its strategy for AI characters on its platforms now.

In the meantime, users can still create AI chatbots using Meta’s AI Studio. Meta’s website says you can “craft AIs that uniquely express your personal interests and nerd out on topics that matter to you.” With the rise of ChatGPT, AI chatbots have become increasingly popular as users experiment and test the limits of what is possible with AI. But Meta still has its work cut out regarding its own AI characters on its platforms.

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