Social media apps have been seizing the opportunity to incorporate artificial intelligence since the technology’s rapid expansion. The popular platform Snapchat is among those making the most of it with its young demographic, who use it to engage with each other through sharing stories, direct messages, and multimedia photo and video content.
Last year it introduced a new generative AI chatbot called “My AI” designed to help users with various tasks through their messaging section in the Snapchat app. Despite it making strides, the feature hasn’t been well received as it doesn’t appear to have any real functionality that is helpful for the user. It’s even glitched and posted to its own Snapchat story.
Instead, the company is doubling down on the feature by recently integrating sponsored links into My AI’s responses to further monetize the chatbot.
snapchat ai glitch?? Ai is finally taking over ???????????? pic.twitter.com/yfqOE3YPcm
— riva (@bieisbreathin) August 16, 2023
What is Snapchat’s My AI?
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Snapchat is a messaging app that works on the premise that users can share Snaps that only appear for a matter of seconds before disappearing from users’ screens. These ‘Snaps’ can be sent directly to another person, or it can be posted on their own ‘Story’ so that all their contacts can view it.
Its new AI chatbot, called “My AI,” can answer burning trivia questions, offer advice on the perfect gift for a best friend’s birthday, help plan a hiking trip for a long weekend, or even suggest what to make for dinner.
When a user asks it a question, My AI sifts through its available databases, collects data, and constructs a reply. As users interact with My AI, it learns and adapts its responses to more closely align with their interests and interactions.
Snapchatters can also send feedback to developers by long pressing on any response from My AI to share more on what they’d like to see more or less of while it continues to train its algorithm. Like many outfits, My AI is powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology, with additional safety enhancements and controls unique to Snapchat. All the content shared with My AI is stored until it is deleted by the user.
The function hasn’t been rolled out to everyone yet. But if it’s available, users can find My AI on their Chat screen. Swipe right from the Camera screen to open the Chat screen to try it out.
How to delete data from Snapchat
Users can delete content sent to My AI in their Chat within 24 hours. They can also erase past content shared with My AI by following these steps:
- Tap the Profile icon and then tap the ⚙️ to access Settings.
- Scroll down to “Privacy Controls”.
- Select ‘Clear Data’.
- Choose ‘Clear My AI Data’ and confirm.
Alternatively,
- Tap the Profile icon and then tap the ⚙️ to access Settings.
- Scroll down to “Account Actions”.
- Select ‘Clear My AI Data’ and confirm.
It should be noted that while these actions will lead Snapchat to erase the data from previous conversations with My AI, they will not affect data from other interactions with My AI.
“By selecting confirm, data from your past conversations with My AI will be deleted from our systems, but this will not include visible or saved content, including where you’ve @mentioned My AI in other conversations,” Snapchat states.
To remove data from any conversation that involved My AI, the Snapchatter needs to delete the specific conversation where My AI was mentioned by long-pressing on it.
How do you turn off Snapchat’s My AI?
Alarmingly, Snapchat’s AI bot can watch a person’s Snapchat Stories by default. Although Snapchat does not explicitly state that My AI can watch users’ stories, a toggle button found under My AI’s privacy settings indicates that it can access them.
According to their help section, content shared with My AI, including users’ locations if they have shared that information with Snapchat, is used by My AI to deliver relevant and useful responses to their requests, such as recommendations for nearby places. Additionally, this data may be used by Snap to enhance its products and personalize users’ experiences, including the advertisements they see.
To turn off access to stories, Go to the Chats tab > Tap and hold the My AI banner > Click on Privacy Settings > Toggle off “My story.”
Upgrading to Snapchat+ to remove My AI
If a user has Snapchat+, they can easily unpin or remove My AI completely. However, if they do not have this subscription, their options are limited to deleting and clearing the data sent to My AI.
The membership costs $3.99 per month or $29.99 per year and provides users with exclusive features such as experimental, pre-release features, custom app icons, chat wallpapers, custom story expiration, and more. In this case, all you have to do is hold on to My AI in Chat > Tap “Chat Settings” > Tap “Clear from Chat Feed.”
As of December 2023, Snapchat+ reached an impressive seven million paid subscribers, but it remains to be seen whether they will remove My AI.
Featured image: Canva / Ideogram
