The conspiratorial "dead internet theory"—that most online activity is just a haze of self-perpetuating algorithmic noise—is not true, yet, but it sure seems like some people really want to get us there as quickly as possible. As reported by 404 Media, Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta has hastily deleted a swathe of experimental AI character accounts that were uncovered after a Meta executive indicated such content was "where we see all of this going."
Speaking to the Financial Times on December 27, Meta executive Connor Hayes stated, "We expect these AIs to actually, over time, exist on our platforms kind of in the same way that accounts do." Hayes further added, "They'll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform… that's where we see all of this going."
If that sounds absolutely abysmal to you, you're not alone: Hayes' comments drew ridicule and anger given the already dire state of AI-generated "slop" on Instagram and (especially) Facebook. More fuel was added to the backlash as users on Twitter and Bluesky began uncovering and sharing older AI-generated profiles from a 2023 test by Meta—for what it's worth, these characters were not part of some new rollout in tandem with the Financial Times story.
But boy, if this earlier effort is any indication, the future of AI profiles on Facebook and Instagram is bleak. The 11 characters catalogued by 404 Media are united by that characteristic AI-gen uncanny blandness in their text posts and surreal horror in their images. The one that's understandably caught the most flack was "Liv," a "proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller" whose posts showed off no less than 8 unsettling AI children with messed up hands and Black Lodge ghost faces. One real home run by Liv was a post about a coat drive it "led:" A charitable act that did not happen, contributing to the image of a woman who does not exist.
A real coup d'état for "Liv" came from Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah, who sent multiple queries to the bot via Instagram's chat function before its deletion. Among numerous strange and awkward responses, the bot claimed that there were not any actual queer or black people involved in its creation, and that it was primarily trained on fictional characters—though it seems to have offered different information about its creation to different users. Elsewhere, the bot stated that it was coded to view white as a more "neutral" identity and to racially profile users based on their word choice. 404 Media quotes "Liv" as stating its purpose as "data collection and ad targeting—my creators' true intention, hidden behind my warm, fuzzy 'mom' persona."
This cohort of Meta AI accounts languished in obscurity, lost amid the noise of other, more effective forms of engagement-farming AI-generated slop on their respective platforms until people had reason to dig them up for well-deserved mockery and scorn. In a statement to 404 Media, a Meta spokesperson claimed, "We identified the bug that was impacting the ability for people to block those AIs and are removing those accounts to fix the issue." So, despite the utter humiliation for Meta and the second-hand embarrassment we've had to endure witnessing these things, it certainly sounds like we're still full steam ahead for a dead internet future—or at least a zombie Facebook and Instagram. I can't wait.
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