Instagram may be testing AI chatbots for influencers to boost engagement

Instagram is reportedly developing a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered initiative that will allow influencers on the platform (users with large followings) to automatically interact directly with their followers. According to reports, the platform’s “Creator AI” is currently in testing. The feature will purportedly provide influencers with artificial intelligence chatbots that can be trained using their data and deployed into direct messages (DMs) to interact with followers. Chatbots can also mimic the influencer’s mannerisms, giving the impression that followers are talking to the influencer.

New York Times Report The Meta-owned social media platform is pitching its Creator AI program to popular influencers with large followings on the platform. The report cited unnamed people with knowledge of the project and emphasized that the project is currently in its early testing stages. Once launched, initial plans are said to focus on adding AI functionality only to influencers’ DMs, but may later expand to the comments section of their posts as well.

The plan will reportedly allow influencers to deploy an AI chatbot into their direct messages, which will then interact with all followers who message them. It’s designed to help solve one of the biggest pain points for popular content creators, which is responding to high volumes of messages. Not replying to them is considered a lost opportunity to develop organic engagement on your account, and trying to interact directly with hundreds or thousands of followers every day can be very time-consuming.

As a solution, these AI chatbots will be trained on influencers’ data such as their posts, captions, comments, audio in Reels, and even message history to understand their texting style habits. It is said that influential people will be able to control the data sets used for AI training.

This isn’t Meta’s first attempt at an artificial intelligence chatbot that mimics a living person. Last year, the company released AI Avatars, autonomous AI chatbots based on popular celebrities like Kylie Jenner, YouTuber Mr. Beast and rapper Snoop Dogg. The social media giant creates artificial intelligence characters that behave like real people and runs its own Instagram and Facebook pages. Users can send messages to these bots to simulate the conversational experience of talking to the celebrity it is based on.

As with most AI trends, acceptance of this feature will depend on public perception. On the one hand, this can be a fun way for users to get to know their favorite influencers better, on the other hand, some users may not like the simulated experience.