Snapchat’s learning the hard way that people don’t appreciate platforms messing with their private chats, something that Meta has been grappling with for years. Last week, at Snap’s annual Partner Summit, it announced that its ‘My AI’ GPT-powered chatbot element would be rolled out to all users, expanding from being Snapchat+ subscriber-only feature.

Well, Dang

For some context, My AI allows users to chat with an AI and have it answer questions, with the My AI chat now pinned to the top of all user inboxes in the app, which, evidently, has not been well-received, at least not by everybody. As per TechCrunch:

“Over the past week, Snapchat’s average US App Store review was 1.67, with 75% of reviews being one-star, according to data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower. For comparison, across Q1 2023, the Snapchat average U.S. App Store review was 3.05, with only 35% of reviews being one-star.”

Snap has been receiving an influx of one-star reviews. Granted, five-star reviews have also spiked, but TechCrunch notes that many of these users are also critical of My AI, with users threatening to pull their five-star endorsements, or change them to one-stars if the functionality isn’t removed.

The main issue here seems to be that My AI chat has been embedded into their personal inbox – the space where most Snapchatters interact, which, to be fair, does feel quite intrusive. There’s currently no way to fully remove or deactivate the My AI chat from the top of your inbox display.

Snap users are highly connected to the app, with many using it as their primary platform for personal interactions. With this in mind, you can see why the random insertion of My AI is an annoyance. Of course, there will always be people who voice their concerns about AI elements in general and how they pose a risk to privacy and personal data.

In this respect, it’s the placement option that has been the most problematic, which, as noted, Meta has been tussling with for years. Meta added Messenger bots back in 2016 to try and encourage people to interact with brands. Long story short, Meta failed, and so did its other messaging-integrated pushes, because people generally just want to use messaging apps for messaging purposes. Things are a bit different with China’s WeChat, but then again, it’s China, so certain nuances there can vary greatly from those perpetuated in Western regions.

The Wrap

At least in Snap’s case, the solution will likely be as simple as giving users a way to unpin the My AI chat, so they no longer see it. However, the case also underlines a broader challenge in shifting embedded behaviors, especially in more privacy-focused elements.

Sources

https://bit.ly/3LujTxa