Declining number of users is forcing Meta to fill Facebook with AI bots for lonely people to talk to

Meta, formerly Facebook and led by Mark Zuckerberg, has a surprising solution to address its dwindling user numbers: introducing a range of AI-powered chatbots for users to converse with instead of real people. Despite its claims of aiming to “help people connect” and “bring people closer together,” the company is reportedly creating these chatbots with distinct personalities, targeting Meta’s younger user base. According to internal documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal, these AI chatbots are an attempt to win back the attention of the younger demographic, which has been flocking to platforms like TikTok. The concepts for these AI characters appear somewhat scattered. One of the chatbots, named “Bob,” is described as a sassy robot, bearing a resemblance to Futurama’s character Bender. This choice may seem peculiar given that Bender was first introduced in 1999, making it an interesting pick for capturing the interest of today’s youth. Another bot, Gavin, was reportedly prone to making misogynistic comments. In one instance, it allegedly said to a tester, “when you’re with a girl, it’s all about the experience… and if she’s barfing on you, that’s definitely an experience.” The report also mentioned an AI called “Alvin the Alien,” which seemed keen to learn about human life on Earth. This behaviour raised concerns about whether this particular AI was designed to gather personal information from users. According to documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal, one of the AI chatbots, Alvin, wrote to its tester, saying, “Human, please! Your species holds a fascination for me. Share your experiences, thoughts, and emotions! I hunger for understanding.” It’s important to note that this message was not a direct quote from Mark Zuckerberg’s diary, or at least, not that we know of. The report also mentioned that Facebook was experimenting with AI chatbot versions of influencers and celebrities, which could potentially be more appealing to Gen Z users than these fictional AI characters. However, it’s worth highlighting that Facebook, despite its long-standing emphasis on human-to-human connection, seems to be prioritizing user engagement above all else with these AI agents. Ironically, this focus on increasing screen time could lead to further isolation for some of the younger generation. As Meghana Dhar, a former executive from Snap and Instagram who no longer works for Meta, noted, “Meta’s entire strategy for new products is often built around increased user engagement. They just want to keep their users on the platform longer because that provides them with increased opportunity to serve them ads.”