Meta is preparing to announce a generative ai chatbot, internally called “Gen ai Personas,” aimed at younger users, according to tech/ai/meta-ai-chatbot-younger-users-dab6cb32?mod=rss_Technology”>The Wall Street Journal. They will reportedly launch during the company’s Meta Connect event starting Wednesday and would come in multiple “personas” aimed at attracting younger users with more colorful behavior, following the rise of ChatGPT over the past year as one of the Fastest growing apps in history. Similar, but more generally targeted, Meta chatbots have reportedly already been tested on Instagram.
According to internal chats, Diary seen, the company has tested a “daring robot” personality inspired by Bender from Futurama and an overly curious “Alvin the Alien” that one employee worried might imply the robot was created to collect personal information. One particularly problematic chatbot reportedly told a Meta employee: “When you’re with a girl, it’s all about the experience. And if she is vomiting on you, it is definitely an experience.”
Meta means creating “dozens” of these bots, writes the Diary, and has even worked on a chatbot creation tool to allow celebrities to create their own chatbots for their fans. There may also be some more productivity-oriented, capable of helping with “coding and other tasks,” according to the article.
He Diary quotes former Snap and Instagram executive Meghana Dhar as saying that chatbots don’t “scream Gen Z to me, but Gen Z is definitely much more comfortable” with newer technology. She added that Meta’s goal with chatbots, as always with new products, is to keep them interested longer to have “greater opportunities to show them ads.”
