When I first used SocialAI, I was certain the app was performance art. That was the only logical explanation for why I willingly signed up for AI bots called Blaze Fury and Trollington Nefarious to, well, troll me.
Even the app’s creator, Michael Sayman, acknowledges that SocialAI’s premise can be confusing to people. His announcement of the app this week sounded a bit like a generative AI joke: “A private social network where you get millions of AI-generated comments offering opinions, advice, and musings.”
But no, SocialAI is real if “real” can be applied to a virtual universe where every person you interact with is a bot.
There is only one real human in the SocialAI equation. That person is you. The modern iOS app is designed to let you post text, just like you would on Twitter or Threads. Almost immediately, an ellipsis appears, indicating that another person is loading ammo, preparing to fire. Then, a bunch of comments immediately appear, cascading beneath your post, each written by an AI character. In the modern modern The version of the app that launched today also allows these tricks to communicate with each other.
During your first registration, you will be asked to provide the following information: to choose these AI character archetypes: Want to hear from the fans? The trolls? The skeptics? The weirdos? The unlucky ones? The visionaries? The nerds? The drama queens? The liberals? The conservatives? Welcome to SocialAI, where Trollite Kafka, Vera D. Nothing, Sunshine Sparkle, Progressive Parker, Derek Dissent, and Professor Debaterson are here to support you or tell you why you’re wrong.
Is SocialAI scary, an echo chamber taken to its logical extreme? Only if you ignore the truth of current social media: our feeds are already filled with bots, tuned by algorithms and monetized by AI-powered advertising systems. As real people, we feed: freely feeding social apps fresh content, baiting trolls, buying stuff. In return, we are amused and sometimes connected to friends and fans.