Meta AI, the company behind the popular social media platform Meta, has made the decision to disable its celebrity avatars after less than a year. The AI characters, which were modeled after the likenesses of Kendall Jenner, Snoop Dogg, and Tom Brady, failed to gain much traction amongst users. Meta confirmed the news, stating that “you can no longer interact with AI characters embodied by celebrities.” Although the company did not provide a specific reason for this decision, it is clear that the feature did not resonate with users as expected.
The lack of success of Meta AI’s celebrity avatars is indicative of the challenges faced by companies in shipping consumer-facing generative AI features that users actually want to engage with. While chatbots like ChatGPT have been successful in providing meaningful value and engagement to users, other tools have struggled. For example, the addition of the Meta AI searchbar in Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger has been seen by many as an annoyance, especially since it cannot be turned off. Similarly, Google’s AI-generated search summaries had a rocky start, with users finding them to be an aggravating imposition or even inaccurate.
Meta reportedly paid its high-profile celebrities up to 5 million dollars for their likenesses over a two-year contract, but the confusing premise of the AI personas may have hindered meaningful engagement. Meta declined to comment on the financial aspects of the program.
It is important to note that the AI personas were not actually AI replicas of the celebrities themselves. Instead, they featured the celebrities’ profile photos and personalities. For example, the Padma Lakshmi persona, named Lorena, inexplicably portrayed a “travel expert.” However, these AI personas are no longer accessible on Instagram, with the links leading to unavailable pages.
Despite the discontinuation of the celebrity avatars, Meta is not abandoning its efforts to integrate generative AI into its platforms. The company recently announced AI Studio, a new tool that allows users to create AI replicas of themselves. This feature is similar to the existing platform Character.ai and aims to enable users to interact with other accounts using their AI replicas, with a disclaimer stating that it is AI-generated content. Additionally, Meta has deployed AI tools for advertisers to create images and copy for ads.
In conclusion, Meta AI’s decision to disable its celebrity avatars reflects the challenges faced by companies in creating generative AI features that resonate with users. While some tools, like chatbots, have been successful, others, such as the Meta AI searchbar and Google’s AI-generated search summaries, have faced criticism. Despite the discontinuation of the celebrity avatars, Meta is continuing its efforts to integrate generative AI into its platforms with the introduction of AI Studio. This new tool allows users to create AI replicas of themselves for interaction with other accounts, while AI tools for advertisers are also being developed.