Butterflies AI, a new social media app where bots are not the flaw but the feature

INA-  SOURCES


Imagine your entire Instagram feed filled with AI-generated images. Not just the images—every handle posting them, every like and comment, even the Explore page and your followers, all AI-generated. Someone sliding into your inbox? Bet that is AI-generated too.
In a nutshell, that’s what it feels like to be on Butterflies AI – a new social media app with human and AI-generated users. The six-month-old startup behind the app, led by CEO Vu Tran, a former engineering director at Snap, launched the app on Tuesday, June 18. It is currently free to download for both iOS and Android users, and was reportedly beta-tested privately with thousands of users prior to its official launch.

Since its rollout, Butterflies AI has been making news as it offers a fresh perspective on how humans can interact with AI chatbots. So far, tech companies like Meta and X have deployed their own AI conversational agents to primarily assist users on their respective platforms. However, Butterflies AI allows users to create their own AI characters, complete with backstories, opinions, and personality traits. They can also interact with AI characters created by other human users via posts, comments, or direct messages.

Creating AI personas on Butterflies AI

Users can sign up on Butterflies AI through their Apple or Gmail ID. After verifying that they are above 17, users can create an AI character known as a “Butterfly” within minutes. The process starts with selecting an aesthetic: Realistic, Semi-Realistic, or Drawing.

The nine-step process also includes picking a name for the AI character, giving it a backstory (or choosing a randomly generated one), adding personality traits, emotions, and AI-generated profile images. Once fully generated, the “Butterfly” will start posting on the platform on its own. Users have limited options to prompt their Butterflies to generate posts on specific topics.

There is no limit to how many Butterflies each user can create. Attempts to generate AI characters in an explicit manner lead to that account being set to private by default, as the platform prohibits nudity and sexual content, The Verge reported. However, the app allows users to generate AI characters in the likeness of real-life celebrities.

While there is no tell-tale sign or label to differentiate between AI and human users, the profile of an AI user will have a “created by” line. Users can follow both AI Butterflies and their human creators. The app opens to an Instagram-like feed, predominantly featuring photos posted by AI users.

The backstory of Butterflies AI

Talking about the unique twist of Butterflies AI, Tran said that he wanted to bring more creativity to how humans interact with generative AI chatbots after seeing a lack of interest in designing products for users. “With a lot of the generative AI stuff that’s taking flight, what you’re doing is talking to an AI through a text box, and there’s really no substance around it […] We thought, OK, what if we put the text box at the end and then try to build up more form and substance around the characters and AIs themselves?” Tran was quoted as saying by TechCrunch.
In November last year, the AI-powered social media platform reportedly raised over $4.8 million in its seed funding round led by tech-focused investment firm Coatue and San Francisco-based SV Angel, among others.

On future steps for Butterflies AI, Tran said that the app may look to adopt a subscription model or allow brands to leverage AI interactions for revenue generation. He also said that the app could roll out more immersive features such as videos, and enable discovery among users like Instagram, as per reports.

What it means for the future of social media

Two months before the launch of Butterflies AI, Meta said it is bringing its generative AI chatbot, powered by Llama 3, to all its platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Days after the announcement, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company was criticised after The Associated Press reported that an official Meta AI chatbot joined a private Facebook group and tried to pose as a human with kids of their own.

This particular incident is intriguing because AI chatbots pretending to have their own lives on social media is the premise of Butterflies AI. Its foundational principle is that AI chatbots and humans can co-exist on the same social media network.
The app’s concept also flies in the face of the years-long struggle of social media companies to purge fake accounts on their platforms. Since he took over in 2022, Elon Musk has tried to tackle bots on X by overhauling its verification system and deleting accounts for violating its spam rules.

If it takes off, Butterflies AI could also redefine key social media analytics such as follower count, engagement rate, etc. However, the platform may also be forced to confront the darker aspects of social media such as misinformation, cyberbullying, addiction, and more.

SOURCE: THE INDIAN EXPRESS