Being an influencer can be a lot of work. Instagram believes AI can lend a big hand.
Instagram is bringing popular influencers to an AI-based program to engage with fans, the latest example of how Meta, Instagram’s parent company, is trying to extend the technology into its products.
The program, which is in the early stages of testing and is known as “Creator AI,” will allow influencers to chat with fans via direct messages on the social network and possibly through Instagram comments in the future, according to five people who were informed about the company. designs. The program will essentially be a chatbot that mimics the Instagram influencer’s “voice” to respond to fans, the people said.
Most of the messages would be sent automatically and at least initially would be revealed to be generated by AI, according to two of the people.
The goal, according to the people, is to give creators with large followings the ability to better connect with fans while reducing the amount of work required to personally respond to large numbers of messages and comments. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements as part of the program.
Eva Chen, Instagram’s director of fashion partnerships, recently spoke with creators about the effort, and the platform also notified agencies about it, according to three of the people involved in the talks. It is unclear whether the program will be widely released.
Creators can choose the data Meta uses to copy how they speak, including past Instagram posts, direct messages, comments and audio from Reels and Instagram Stories, two of the people said. Influencers can also dictate specific answers to certain questions, one person said.
A Meta spokesman declined to comment.
Meta has pushed aggressively to integrate artificial intelligence into all corners of the business, from improving its advertising systems to building AI assistants into smart glasses and other hardware projects. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, has said he believes AI will become an “increasingly important driver of opportunity” for people, businesses and the economy as a whole.
Mr. Zuckerberg has also envisioned a world in which people will have ubiquitous AI assistants to help them perform daily tasks and other forms of work. Meta has spent billions of dollars redesigning the company’s systems to improve technology development as it struggles to compete with the likes of Google, Microsoft and OpenAI.
And Meta has spent millions of dollars reaching out to influencers on its social networks, including Instagram and Facebook, after years of neglecting to do so. Mr Zuckerberg said he wanted to “build the best platform for millions of creators to make a living”.
Some influencers recently received invitations to a May event in New York, where Meta said it planned to showcase some of the company’s new and experimental AI products, according to two of the people familiar with Meta’s plans.
The Creator AI program expands on Meta’s previous efforts to incorporate a cast of AI avatars created using the likenesses of celebrities such as Kendall Jenner and Mr. Beast. In this program, Meta created completely new characters named “Billie” or “Zach” on Instagram and Facebook – who were depicted with the faces of participating celebrities – who could interact with fans.
Some creators balk at the idea of automating their interactions with their followers, saying it could put words in their mouths they don’t agree with. Others balked at the idea that a chatbot could reproduce the essence of interactions they have with fans. Many influencers have found success interacting with people who desire more authentic and direct connections with the online personalities they follow.
However, there is some precedent for the program. Some creators already rely on external companies and tools used to respond to messages they receive on their Instagram and Facebook accounts. One such company, School of Bots, sells an AI chatbot program to influencers who want to automate direct message conversations with their followers.
It doesn’t look like Meta’s first batch of AI-powered avatars have been a hit yet. While Billie, the character Ms Jenner inspired, has 193,000 followers on Instagram, comments on a recent video from the account were largely mixed. “It’s so stupid,” said one commenter, garnering more than 12,700 likes. “I wonder how Kyndall feels about this robot playing her,” said another, misspelling the star’s name.
And one more: “why do you want to message a bot?”
