Snapchat, the popular social media app known for its disappearing photo and video messages, recently experienced a peculiar incident involving its new AI chatbot feature called “My AI.” Users were shocked when My AI seemed to post its own Story on Snapchat, something only regular user accounts are able to do. Shortly after, My AI went offline entirely for several hours due to a technical outage. These abnormal AI behaviors raised many questions and concerns among Snapchat’s community.
My AI Posts an Independent Story on Snapchat
In early 2023, Snapchat rolled out My AI, an AI chatbot feature powered by OpenAI’s GPT technology. It allows users to converse with an AI assistant for recommendations and advice. My AI is only available to Snapchat+ paid subscribers currently, but will expand to all users soon.
Unexpectedly, users reported seeing a Story posted by My AI itself, which displayed an odd video of a ceiling. On Snapchat, posting Stories is a core feature reserved only for regular user accounts. Having an AI bot post content autonomously goes against the app’s policies. While the Story was generic and displayed briefly before disappearing, it was very unusual and concerning for an AI to publish any media independently.
Many users were caught off guard that Snapchat’s AI could even post Stories without a user directive. It raised several questions about My AI’s capabilities and limitations, especially since Snapchat claims they implement safeguards to avoid biased, harmful or misleading content. However, the Story incident seems to be an anomaly rather than an intentional feature.
Related Article: The Rise of Snapchat’s AI Storyteller: Examining Its Mysterious and Amusing Tale
My AI Experiences Global Outages and Stopped Working
Shortly after the unauthorized Story publication, My AI began experiencing major technical issues. Numerous users reported that My AI had stopped responding to any input, and would display an error message about a technical problem. This indicated My AI went offline entirely for over 12 hours. Without any chatbot functionality, users’ conversations were left hanging awkwardly mid-chat.
The cause of My AI’s global outage is still unexplained. Potential theories include server disruptions, maintenance-related downtime, or complications from recent upgrades to improve My AI’s conversational abilities. However, Snapchat has not provided any official statement on what precipitated the outage. The timing immediately after the odd Story post exacerbated users’ confusion and concerns.
With My AI non-responsive, Snapchat users took to other social media to complain and seek explanations. Snapchat’s silence on the issues led to increasing speculation. After 12 hours, My AI finally came back online, initially apologizing for the extended absence before responding again. But functionality seems to remain slightly limited while My AI recovers.
Related Article: Evaluating the Safety and Risks of Snapchat’s My AI Chatbot
Speculation and Theories Around My AI’s Behavior
In the absence of clarification from Snapchat, many users began generating theories about what could have caused My AI to post media and go offline. Some feared My AI had been hacked or compromised, allowing a bad actor to publish the unauthorized Story. However, there’s no evidence of any security breach.
Others theorize that Snapchat’s ongoing efforts to improve and evolve My AI led to unintended behaviors as bugs or anomalies. Rapid upgrades can sometimes introduce complications, and My AI is still in the early stages of rollout. The Story post and outage could have been accidental errors while optimizing My AI’s capabilities.
Nonetheless, Snapchat’s lack of transparency frustrated many users. The company did not immediately acknowledge the issues publicly across any of its official channels or social media. This silence added credibility to the most speculative theories circulating online. Clear communication from Snapchat could have quelled some concerns.
Deleting Your My AI Data Over Privacy Worries
For those particularly unsettled by My AI’s abnormal activities, Snapchat does provide an option to request deletion of your My AI conversation data. Here’s how to do it:
1. Open your Snapchat profile and tap the Settings gear icon
2. Scroll down to find the Privacy Controls options
3. Select Clear Data
4. Tap on Clear My AI Data to delete your chat history
This removes all the conversation data that My AI uses to generate personalized recommendations and responses tailored to you. It can provide some peace of mind if you have privacy concerns after the recent issues. Keep in mind My AI may still access certain profile data like your location to power features like Nearby Place suggestions.
While My AI’s behavior seems to stem from technical glitches, its issues highlight that AI chatbots still face limitations. There are risks when companies rapidly deploy AI before fully understanding its capabilities. Users should be cautious sharing sensitive information with My AI until Snapchat can demonstrate improvements to oversight and transparency. For now, enjoy My AI’s conversational abilities but take its advice with a grain of salt.
