Good morning. Meta says it's about to start putting AI profiles all over its platforms, but a blast from the past suggests that won't go so smoothly.
On Friday people spotted and started sharing the Instagram profile for “Liv”, a “proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller” and—with no apparent sense of irony—“your realest source for life’s ups & downs.” (If that’s true for you, you have my deepest sympathies.)
The Washington Post satirist Alexandra Petri summed things up quite well: “Everything about this new Meta AI bot is so dystopian but for me the AI-generated images of nonexistent donated coats is up there.” Also, there was the racist stereotyping in Liv’s chat replies.
The resulting outrage prompted Meta to quickly delete the "Liv" and a couple other profiles. However, the accounts were actually launched back in September 2023, and not quietly either. I don't know what's worse for Meta: the fact that the public still barely noticed these profiles until now, or the way in which Friday's pushback has the potential to undermine Meta's imminent AI plans. (Though if you know something I don’t about why fake profiles are actually a life-enhancing, brilliant idea, please do let me know.) —David Meyer
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