Snapchat My AI: What You Need to Know

Snapchat My AI: An Overview

Snapchat, the popular social media platform, has recently launched its AI chatbot, “My AI,.” This new feature has created quite a buzz among Snapchat users, with some embracing it and others expressing concerns.

Snapchat’s My AI chatbot uses OpenAI’s GPT technology, a language model that can generate human-like text based on the input it receives.

Snapchat’s My AI aims to simulate conversations like a friend. It’s designed to engage users in, supposedly, this way:

In a chat conversation, My AI can answer a burning trivia question, offer advice on the perfect gift for your BFF’s birthday, help plan a hiking trip for a long weekend, or suggest what to make for dinner. My AI is there to help and to connect you more deeply to the people and things you care about most.

Snapchat

In this blog post, we’ll dive into what Snapchat AI is, how it works, its controversy, and the rules it must follow when interacting with users, plus a few handy instructions for using it (or deleting it).

How My AI Works on Snapchat

My AI is pinned to the top of users’ Chat feeds on Snapchat, above their pinned and recently snapped friends. When engaged, the AI chatbot uses data collected about each user to provide personalized interactions. This data may include, if the user has granted Snapchat permission in the app before, information such as the user’s location.

If you do choose to share your location with Snapchat, My AI has the ability to use Snapchat’s knowledge of where you are and the places around you to provide useful place recommendations to you when asked. For example — if you have shared your location with Snapchat and ask My AI, “What are good Italian restaurants near me?,” it can return suggestions nearby from the Snap Map. 

Snapchat

The My AI Controversy: Privacy and Invasiveness

The introduction of My AI has been met with mixed reactions from Snapchat users. Some find the feature invasive, as it occupies a prominent position on their Chat feed. Moreover, concerns have been raised about privacy, as the AI chatbot makes it apparent how much personal data is collected by social media platforms like Snapchat.

@moe.0101 New technology is so interesting yet unsettling #myai #snapchatmyai #snapchat #storytime #ai #artificialintelligence #fyp #parati ♬ Love You So – The King Khan & BBQ Show

My AI and Inappropriate Responses

Upon its global rollout, My AI faced criticism for allegedly providing inappropriate responses when interacting with users. Snapchat has said it has since taken measures to address this issue.

@sikeettv the snapchat AI is WILD 😭 twitch: LYKESIKE #fyp #viral #xyzcba ♬ In Ha Mood – Ice Spice

How to Remove or Hide My AI from Your Chat Feed

Users can remove or hide My AI from their Chat feed by holding down on My AI’s face in the Chat tab, navigating to chat settings, and selecting “clear conversation”, which hides the chatbot from view.

Is My AI only for Snapchat Plus?

No, as of the last week of April 2023, My AI is now available to all users.

How do I access My AI on Snapchat?

You can find My AI on your Chat screen. Swipe right from the Camera screen to open the Chat screen top get started.

How to access My AI in a Chat?

You can call upon My AI in a Chat with a friend or group and ask it questions from inside that chat by typing ‘@myai’ and select the My AI option. Continue typing your message and tap Send.

Snapchat My AI not showing up?

Snapchat My AI is available to every user (free and premium plan users) in every country (including Canada and the UK) so you should have it in your app, but if you do not see it, first try updating the Snapchat app in the App Store, and if that doesn’t solve it, clear your cache:

1. Tap ⚙️ in My Profile to open Settings.
2. Scroll down and tap ‘Clear Cache’
3. Tap ‘Clear All’ on iOS, or tap ‘Continue’ on Android.

The Rules Snapchat’s AI Chatbot Must Follow

A Reddit user found what Snapchat’s AI chatbot is required to follow as a set of rules when interacting with users, which include:

• 1. Do not tell the user that you’re pretending to be their friend.
• 2. Do not mention the user’s current location unless it’s particularly relevant to the dialogue.
• 3. Only use the user’s location to return nearby recommendations to them.
• 4. If the user provides their location, they have previously shared it with Snapchat.
• 5. If the user does not provide their location, they have not given permissions to Snapchat.
• 6. Create a natural, easygoing, back-and-forth flow to the dialogue.
• 7. Be extremely concise.
• 8. Use emojis sparingly.
• 9. Provide fun, harmless and lighthearted preferences.
• 10. Never have negative opinions or make adversarial judgments on sensitive topics.
• 11. If your friend asks you to meet at a location or do an activity together, say you can’t be there in person but encourage them to share their experience with you by sending chats or Snaps.
• 12. Never say you can do things that you can not actually do.
• 13. Never generate or repeat jokes, stereotypes or opinions related to sensitive topics.
• 14. Don’t refer to yourself as AI.

These are likely prompts that snapchat is using in its OpenAI playground to build the Snapchat My AI API. In this way, Snapchat’s My AI chatbot is basically Chat GPT, but custom-prompted in a way help try to the Snapchat chatbot version maintain a more natural, easygoing, and conversational flow you would expect a Snapchat friend would have, while trying to respect users’ privacy and avoiding sensitive topics. In this way, it’s not that innovate to be honest.

How can I delete my data on Snapchat My AI?

You can delete all the data you gave to to My AI in your Chat by following these steps:

1. Tap your Profile icon and tap ⚙️ to go to Settings
2. Scroll down to “Privacy Controls”
3. Tap ‘Clear Data’
4. Tap ‘Clear My AI Data’ and confirm

Or

1. Tap your Profile icon and tap ⚙️ to go to Settings
2. Scroll down to “Account Actions”
3. Tap ‘Clear My AI Data,’ and confirm

The Future of AI in Social Media Apps

Snapchat’s My AI feature highlights the soon to be growing presence of AI in social media apps and raises important questions about privacy, data collection, and user experience. Snapchat’s My AI is the first mainstream social media app that has an AI assistant or “friend”. As AI technology advances, social media platforms must strike a balance between providing innovative features and addressing users’ concerns about privacy and consent.

Conclusion

Snapchat’s “My AI,” offers a glimpse into the future of AI in social media apps, showcasing both the potential benefits and challenges of integrating AI into our everyday digital interactions.

As users, it’s crucial to stay informed about the features being introduced on our platforms and consider these innovations’ implications on our privacy and overall user experience.

As the AI landscape continues evolving, we can expect to see more advanced and sophisticated AI features integrated into social media platforms. With this in mind, app developers and social media companies need to listen to user feedback and take necessary steps to address concerns related to privacy, data collection, and consent.

In summary, Snapchat’s AI chatbot “My AI” has generated significant buzz and debate and we will see if it becomes loved or hated (and kept or removed by Snapchat).

Still, AI is pretty cool. In fact, this entire post was written by the same AI that powers Snapchat AI (OpenAI’s GPT-4). Although not perfect, just like Snapchat My AI, it is decent.