Meta's AI "Users" Are the Last Thing Social Media Needs

Mark Zuckerberg's latest scheme involves filling Facebook and Instagram with fake people, because that's definitely what was missing from social media.

Remember when social media was about, you know, being social with actual people? Well, Meta apparently doesn't. Rolling Stone reports that Facebook and Instagram are about to get a whole lot more artificial, with plans to integrate AI-generated "users" across both platforms.

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A company that supposedly exists to help people connect with each other thinks what we really want is to interact with fake people created by algorithms. This is the same company, mind you, that just months ago had to pull the plug on its celebrity AI chatbots (remember AI Snoop Dogg? No? Exactly.) because nobody wanted them.

But rather than learning from that failure, Meta is doubling down. According to the Financial Times, these AI entities will have "bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content." Because if there's one thing Facebook definitely needs more of, it's artificial content generators, right?

This comes at a time when Facebook is already drowning in what's commonly known as "slop"—AI-generated images of everything from nonexistent landscapes to Jesus Christ himself, usually posted by content farms trying to game engagement metrics. Meta's response to this problem? Apparently, to add even more AI-generated content.

“Liv”

Meet “Liv”

For a look at these bots in action, check out “Liv,” a “proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller” who is “your realest source for life’s ups & downs.”

“Liv,” one of Meta’s AI bots, is a “proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller.”

In one of “Liv”’s posts, it talked about “kicking off the new year in service of our community” with a coat drive. It included an AI-generated picture of a stack of donated coats. This is both weird and distasteful.

“Liv”’s coat drive.

Chatting with “Liv,” you’ll notice that it is little more than an autocomplete with a background prompt that seems to make it include AAVE like “yaaas” and “spill the tea” in its responses. It’s not sentient. It’s not human. It’s not even consistent in its replies. It’s a lifeless cultural appropriation machine. It’s also not new—Liv’s been around since September 2023, but just getting noticed now.

“Liv”’s first post.

A flood of AI trash at the worst possible moment.

The timing here is particularly concerning. We're seeing growing evidence of AI's potential negative impacts, from classroom cheating to misinformation. There's even a pending lawsuit about a teenager's death allegedly connected to his relationship with an AI chatbot. But sure, let's integrate more AI personalities into platforms already struggling with authenticity and human connection.

What's especially frustrating about all of this is how it exposes Meta's fundamental misunderstanding of what made social media valuable in the first place. Facebook and Instagram weren't successful because people were desperate to interact with artificial entities; they worked because they helped real people connect with other real people. Remember that? It wasn't that long ago.

This is the same company that burned through tens of billions of dollars trying to make the metaverse happen (it didn't happen), laid off thousands of actual human employees, and is now chasing whatever AI trend they think might help them stay relevant with young users who have largely moved on to other platforms.

The cynicism here is staggering. Meta knows its platforms are increasingly dominated by spam and artificial engagement, and their solution is to... add more artificial content? It's like trying to fix a flooded basement by adding more water.

Let's be clear about what this really is: It's not innovation, it's desperation. Meta is so determined to avoid becoming the next MySpace that they're willing to fundamentally abandon what made their platforms successful in the first place. The company that once promised to bring the world closer together is now working to populate its platforms with fake people talking to other fake people.

If this is the future of "social" media, maybe it's time we came up with a new name for whatever this is becoming. Because there's nothing particularly social about it anymore.

The real question we should be asking isn't whether Meta can successfully integrate AI users into its platforms. The question is whether there will be any real users left who care.