Meta's Creepy AI Celebrities

What if you were able to have your loved ones live on with you long after they're gone, to hear their voice, experience their laugh, get their advice, and tell inside jokes that only the two of you know? If someone told you they could make that happen, would you take them up on that offer?

In 2017, John Mayer, the CEO of artificial intelligence company Forever Voices, did just that. He developed the bot version of his father who recently passed away. He could chat with his dad whenever he wanted, engage with him, and for a moment, escape the pain of him being gone. Since then, the AI market for bots based on real people, influencers, or celebrities has exploded. Companies have been built and rebuilt to capitalize on the AI craze, but none has more potential for influence than this one: Meta.

So when Meta introduced its new AI features, tech reporters and regular users alike leaned in. Meta's new features include customized stickers, IM editing, and an AI assistant. One development in particular that's thrown everyone for a loop is a new cast of AI bots. These bots aren't your run-of-the-mill AI bots, though; each one of them has a unique backstory and expertise in a particular niche. They have profiles on Instagram and Facebook, and most importantly, they're voiced by cultural icons and influencers like Tom Brady, Naomi Osaka, Kendall Jenner, Mr. Beast, and Paris Hilton.

But confusingly, the characters are different from their instantly recognizable celebrity voices. You're not chatting sports with Tom Brady, but rather a guy named Brew, who just so happens to look and sound exactly like Tom Brady. You can talk Dungeons and Dragons with the Dragon Master voiced by Snoop Dogg or look for advice from Kendall Jenner AI, your no BS ride or die companion. Some of these characters, like Jenner, make sense, while others leave you wondering what the connection is. For example, Paris Hilton is a crime-solving detective. What's the connection there?

Ironically, these bots were unveiled at Meta's annual product showcase, Connect, at the same time the actor's union, the Screen Actor Guild, was on strike harshly over demands around limiting AI-generated content that threatens to put actors out of work. So how did Meta get a bunch of non-actor celebrities to give away their likeness? Well, they didn't give it away at all. They were reportedly paid up to 5 million each for 6 hours of work and endless usage of their face and voice. Meta's deep pockets and cutting-edge AI technology called Llama positioned the company perfectly to take on such a high-profile AI project.

Unfortunately, a lot of the new bots are generally regarded as creepy and confusing. Chatting with AI Tom Brady or Brew might be a fun novelty at first, but quickly can evolve into a far less interesting conversation about football than one might expect with the actual Tom Brady. Novelty, it turns out, wears off pretty quickly.

So why is Meta taking such a big chance on this new Chad bot program that seems doomed to fail from day one? Well, just like many others, it's trying to win the artificial intelligence market. There's never been a more exciting time and competitive time for AI, and Meta is trying to do things a little differently than its main competitors like OpenAI. Llama, its homegrown tech, is open source, which means Meta is giving developers around the globe access to its software. This is in stark comparison to the technology behind ChatGPT, which OpenAI keeps under wraps.

Meta compares this strategy with Linux, an open-source PC alternative to Windows in the '90s and 2000s. Linux made its way into corporate servers worldwide and became a key component of the modern market. Meta is hoping that Llama will have the same effect in their eyes, by making the technology open source and allowing third parties to make improvements. This could result in better efficiency and ultimately make it cheaper for Meta to run the AI software.

And what better way to keep its software relevant than creating a pop culture moment using Snoop Dogg or Paris Hilton AI bots? Ultimately, the idea isn't that original; it's the same concept used by another company called Replica.