Snapchat’s new features have been in the news buzz since last week. With AI becoming a crucial part of every possible app, Snapchat joined the race as well last week by introducing the My AI chatbot.
Snapchat’s users never complained about the app except for once in 2015, when it removed the public best friends list. But this new feature is driving the users crazy. The My AI feature is designed in a way that it would reply to your messages like a friend does. But users have been cribbing about it now as the feature is not allowing them to chat with their actual human friends.
My AI is at the top of the screen when you open Snapchat. It will always remain there even if you snap new friends after opening the app. The only way to remove the My AI bot is by paying for a Snapchat subscription of $3.99 a month.
After the introduction of this chatbot, Snapchat has received 1-star reviews at large, proving how unsatisfied the users are about it.
It's not just about the placement of the bot that's annoying Snapchat users, but also this chat bot analyses all the conversations the user has with other people and hence formulates the replies in the same manner. That of course feels like a violation of privacy for most of the users.
Not only does it analyse your chat but it also tracks you and users have also eerily received recommendations of food restaurants around them. This data collection is not only an invasion of privacy but is kinda creepy too.
The feature isn't obviously a very appropriate one as last month there was a feature which showed the My AI chatbot responding with inappropriate statements after mentioning that it was having a conversation with teenagers. To this, Snapchat responded saying that My AI only came up with "non-confirming" responses for 0.01% users only. They also add that the chat bot will be aware of the person's age from now on and keep a record of it, so that there aren't any such controversies again.
Though it's mostly complaints, when it comes to My AI, still there are users who have embraced it and now have given it the tag of 'bestie' or 'homie'. It has also turned out to be a stress buster and a way to get rid of boredom for some.