Snapchat social network ‘My AI’, a customizable chatbot integrated into its platform, became available at the end of February. It was initially only available for paid users, but last week the company decided to make this option global.

Now the first views of users using this chatbot have come and the truth is these comments are so negative.

This new item is based on ChatGPT and is located at the top of the chat section. Thanks to my ‘Artificial Intelligence’, users can ask questions and get quick answers, but instead of helping to improve the app, users seem not to be happy with the result.

In fact, Snapchat’s average rating on the US App Store last week 1.67 out of 5. According to data from the Sensor Tower consultancy, 75% of the ratings were just one star.

This score contrasts with the average for the first quarter of 2023, which is 3.05. At that time, only 35% of the ratings were a star. The number of views has actually quintupled these days, making it clear that for most users this new option is not well received.

Apptopia, another similar data provider, also confirmed this trend. When measuring the impact of the term AI in searches for opinions about this app, this consultancy stated: “impact score” was -9.2when the range is between -10 and +10.

Oddly enough, Snapchat’s decision seemed reasonable given the incredible success of ChatGPT. Users don’t seem happy with an integration they didn’t want, however, but the real problem seems to be that it’s obvious that the company wants to feature that option.

My AI is pinned to the top of the App Chat feed and cannot be unpinned, blocked or deleted; this is something you can do in other conversations. In that section, users often interact with their friends and other users, and forcing them to use this feature is not liked. The criticisms were already showing. replies to twitter message with advertisement.

It doesn’t help either that you have to pay to unpin my AI: only Snapchat+ subscribers have access to future options for this chatbot, including the ability to disappear from their Chats.

The implementation of My AI has also raised privacy concerns. Location is data that my AI collects and can use in responses even if the user does not share the location on Snap Map.

In The Washington Post, they also mentioned how the chatbot is. may eventually exhibit toxic behaviors. The chatbot told My AI that she’s 15, suggesting how to disguise the supposed smell of alcohol or marijuana she picked up at a party. If the chatbot was told that the user was 13 years old, he could be asked how to set the scene for the first sexual encounter.

Snap responded to the criticism by noting that some users tried to get my AI to give responses that “didn’t meet our standards”, but then applied new age controls to adjust responses accordingly.

They did not add comments on the situation on Snapchat and only emphasized that in the pre-distribution, users had two million chats with the AI. They also noted that the app’s features are constantly being iterated, but it’s unknown if these negative reviews will cause any changes to My AI.

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