Snapchat's ChatGPT-style My AI chatbot now available to all users for free

Snapchat's ChatGPT-style AI chatbot dubbed My AI is now available to all users globally for free. Notably, this feature was limited to Snapchat+ subscribers until now. Snap Inc., the company behind Snapchat, announced that its 750 million monthly users can now access the My AI chatbot at the Snap Partner Summit 2023.

Furthermore, the company brought more capabilities to My AI and integrated it with some tools on Snapchat. To recap, Snap launched the My AI chatbot in February for its paid Snapchat+ subscribers. The company adopted OpenAI's GPT technology to develop My AI. The same technology powers the widely popular ChatGPT.

In a press release, Snap revealed that My AI had so far sent nearly 2 million messages per day. Moreover, the AI bot is learning about the world around its users. A couple of My AI features have also been integrated into Snapchat tools such as chat. As a result, My AI has become a more integral part of the multimedia instant messaging app.

Snapchat My AI features

You can create a Bitmoji and customise it on Snapchat. Likewise, My AI has a custom Bitmoji with a name and you can chat with it. You can type @MyAI in a chat with a group or a friend and ask a question from inside the chat. After typing @myai, continue typing your message and press Send. My AI will reply to your question inside that chat, according to a post on the Snapchat Support website.

However, it is worth noting that My AI can only see and respond to a question where it is @mentioned. The AI does not have access to other messages. You can delete your messages with the AI and its responses. All you need to do to delete your My AI data is to long press on the message, tap "Delete," and confirm.

However, My AI can leverage some features of other apps as well. For instance, the chatbot can provide recommendations taken from the Snap Map. Aside from this, it can recommend relevant lenses. So, users can ask the AI bot to suggest Lens or weekend activities. On top of that, the AI is capable of receiving Snaps and sending chat replies.

Similarly, tech giants including Microsoft and Google are sparing no effort to integrate generative AI into their search engines. In fact, Google's AI recently managed to learn a new language without a programmer's assistance. Microsoft, on the other hand, is reportedly working on its own artificial intelligence chip that could power ChatGPT.

The future of Snapchat's My AI

In a recent interview with The Verge, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel described generative AI as "an awesome creative tool." Spiegel revealed that he has been using My AI to create a birthday itinerary for his wife, Miranda Kerr, and create bedtime stories for his children. He pointed out that over 2 million chats per day are currently happening with My AI.

Spiegel believes generative AI bots are ideal for creative tasks. He describes the company's relationship with OpenAI as a "close partnership." Apparently, the AI company provides the foundational LLM (large language model) for My AI. Spiegel sees My AI as an important part of the company's future. Regrettably, Spiegel did not divulge details regarding the cost of running My AI.

Moreover, he remained mum on the chatbot's potential impact on the company's advertising business, which is reportedly struggling to grow. Without elaborating further, Spiegel admitted that leveraging the bot's interactions for ad targeting could be worth considering. Nevertheless, this is a major sign of possible developments in the coming days.

After The Center for Humane Technology posted examples of My AI misbehaving soon after its release, Snap introduced new safety enhancements to the bot. Still, Spiegel claims the majority of interactions with the company's bot have been positive. He revealed that 99.5 percent of My AI replies complied with Snap's community guidelines.