What is My AI?

What+is+My+AI%3F

Brittany Anderson, Writer, photographer

Snapchat recently developed a new update giving everyone with the app a virtual friend called “My AI”. My AI is a friendly chatbot available on Snapchat that can help with advice, help you plan trips, suggest dinner ideas, etc. You can give My AI a nickname and tell it about your likes and dislikes. Its responses are sometimes biased, incorrect, harmful, or misleading, so it’s important to independently check its advice. Your conversations with My AI are stored until you delete them, and you can delete past content by going to settings and selecting “Clear My AI Data.” This virtual friend is supposed to help you with anything you need. You can ask it questions, get recommendations, or just chat about anything you want to. This AI bot is available for all users and comes pinned at the top of everyone’s Snapchat. Regular Snapchat users cannot remove My AI unless they pay a premium subscription for Snapchat Plus. Many people have suspicions about My AI. When you ask My Ai something like “places to go eat” it starts telling you about places you can find where you are. So obviously, it has your location, which some people find suspicious. Some people think My AI is just another thing the government uses to spy on us and gather information. Do you think this is what My AI was created for or do you think it was actually created just to give Snapchat users a virtual friend to communicate with?