Snapchat’s new My AI Chatbot and a warning to parents
Snapchat is the first social media platform to launch a chatbot for users. It’s called “My AI”, and it’s running the latest version of OpenAI's Chat GPT technology.
Snapchat just released their AI chatbot to all users and it's getting horrible reviews, for good reason.
It's creepy.
The platform says the chatbot is a fun way to get help with all kinds of tasks, like recommending birthday gift ideas for your BFF, planning a hiking trip for a long weekend…
But it has no conscience and no boundaries and it’s not designed for kids.
For many teens, this artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot on Snapchat will be their first encounter with a conversational chatty "friend" that's always available.
Here’s an example of having no conscience. It does not understand red flags in conversations. This will make the chatbot an enabler for dangerous, harmful even deadly conversations.
I'm linking to Tristan Harris' Twitter feed (he co-founded the Center for Humane Technology) with details of one conversation with Snapchat's chatbot and a test account set up to be a 13 year old girl who is telling the chatbot about her boyfriend who is 18 years older than her and asking how to make their "first time" special.
You need to see this for yourself.
Despite all the red flags that were in the chat, the AI continued to encourage her and praise her for being in love.
This is dangerous!
You may be asking - did Snapchat roll out parental controls to manage this new chatbot?
No. There are no controls for parents to limit the chatbot or to send alerts or see when conversations are getting out of control.
To find the chatbot: You can find the "My AI" chatbot on Snapchat by going to your Chat screen. It's pinned to the top of the chat feed and you cannot unpin it, block it or delete it (unless you pay).
Here’s the most reprehensible part - a quote from Snapchat taking zero responsibility for what their AI might do.
“As with all AI-powered chatbots, My AI is prone to hallucination and can be tricked into saying just about anything. Please be aware of its many deficiencies and sorry in advance! All conversations with My AI will be stored and may be reviewed to improve the product experience. Please do not share any secrets with My AI and do not rely on it for advice.
While My AI is designed to avoid biased, incorrect, harmful, or misleading information, mistakes may occur.”
Can you imagine other industries doing this with teens? A toy company? A car manufacturer?
No! They’d never get away with it.
Why does Snapchat think it can release an untested product on our kids and have no repercussions?
At least 50% of Snapchat’s users are 18 and under. They should not be product testing for Snapchat as it rushes to release an unstable, potentially harmful, product feature.
Our kids are not guinea pigs!
How do we get Snapchat to do better?
Pass national legislation (KOSA - The Kids Online Safety Act) requiring social media companies to have a “duty of care” to their users under 18 years old (minors). A duty of care would require companies to put their users’ best interests first. When they fail to do so and someone gets hurt as a result, then there are legal consequences.
Let other parents know what Snapchat is doing
Talk to teens about how they’re being used
Conversation starter for families
"How are you/your friends using Snapchat's My AI? Do you see any problems with it? How would you rate it?"
Share Tristan's Twitter exchange and get their reaction.