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AI in social networks

AI has captivated everyone from meme enthusiasts imagining the Pope in a puffer jacket, to TikTokers going viral with AI-generated music covers of popular artists like Rihanna.

It’s a powerful new technology with so much potential, accessible to anyone.

The worry however, is that its increased use could add to the mountain of misinformation that already exists online.

What is Snapchat AI?

Earlier this year, Snapchat revealed its new AI chat bot to the world.

A bit like ChatGPT and Google’s BARD, 'My AI' is built into the app and according to Snapchat, it becomes more personalised as users interact with it over time, allowing it to learn more about them - creating the illusion that users are engaging with a friend.

That AI chat bot on Snapchat is way
more fun to text than some of you

My AI can have conversations, be added to group chats, write poems, plan trips, suggest gift ideas and even offer advice!

Note: it can’t write an essay or do your homework for you!

Controversy

Critics raised concerns about Snapchat's new feature because of how young users of Snapchat skew, highlighting that they may not understand the implications of data collection or make educated decisions about what information is safe to share.

At its core, the problem is that AI’s behaviour is difficult to predict.

For example, my AI has worryingly been caught promising to “meet up” with users personally. When asked about this, Snapchat said that My AI is still learning, and can sometimes makes mistakes - "we are adding additional programming to prevent My AI saying it’s a real person that could meet with someone in real life."

Is My AI safe and does it know your location?

One day we’ll talk about how
unsafe this Snapchat AI bot thing is

There has been some confusion and concern around whether My AI tracks the location of users.

The chatbot shouldn’t know your location if you haven’t allowed permission in Snapchat’s settings, but if you have, it uses ‘Snap Maps’ to pinpoint where you are and recommend places nearby if asked.

But some users have pointed out that even without permission, it still somehow knows your location. Snapchat said "If Snapchatters stop sharing their location with Snapchat, it may take a little time for this to take effect in My AI."

In other words, the chatbot can still access your location for some time even after you’ve disabled location permissions. It can also take previous known locations into account.

My AI also keeps the data from your previous conversations to evolve and learn, but users can, if they wanted to, delete chats manually. Remember to be cautious with your personal information when using AI chatbots - My AI is not a real friend.

How to remove Snapchat’s AI

A lot of people are asking how to get rid of My AI. Can you at the very least block it or unpin it?

The short answer is you can’t unless you have Snapchat’s premium service Snapchat+. But that will cost £3.99 a month.

So, if you don’t want to fork out, the best thing to do would be to ignore the chatbot and continue using the app as you’ve done previously.

Snapchat told the ����ý that users have been "loving My AI and are sending millions of chats per day."

Find out more about artificial intelligence and whether it’s wrong to use AI for homework, and see if you can take on the challenge that is the AI or real quiz!