Snapchat Influencer Launches An AI-powered 'Virtual Girlfriend' To Help 'Cure Loneliness'
Caryn Marjorie wanted to communicate with as many of her admirers as possible, so she created an AI clone of herself. The 1.8 million-subscriber Snapchat personality has built an ai-powered 'virtual girlfriend' to help 'cure loneliness'.
Author:Daniel BarrettMay 15, 20232 Shares540 Views
Caryn Marjorie wanted to communicate with as many of her admirers as possible, so she created an AI clone of herself.
The 1.8 million-subscriber Snapchat personality has built an ai-powered 'virtual girlfriend' to help 'cure loneliness'.
Controversy Surrounding Caryn Marjorie's AI Clone - Ethical Concerns And Public Backlash
The chatbot, CarynAI, is advertised on its website as a "virtual girlfriend." According to the chatbot's website, it allows Marjorie's fans to "enjoy private, personalized conversations" with an AI version of the influencer.
The bot has gone viral, causing Marjorie to make headlines, spark criticism, and even receive death threats. The bot has also sparked a debate about the ethics of companion chatbots.
Marjorie, who describes herself as "the first influencer transformed into AI" in her Twitter bio, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Thursday, she tweeted, "CarynAI is the first step in the right direction to cure loneliness."
Marjorie, 23, wrote:
“„Men are told to suppress their emotions, hide their masculinity, and not talk about issues they are having. I vow to fix this with CarynAI. I have worked with the world’s leading psychologists to seamlessly add [cognitive behavioral therapy] and [dialectic behavior therapy] within chats. This will help undo trauma, rebuild physical and emotional confidence, and rebuild what has been taken away by the pandemic.- Caryn Marjorie
According to the CarynAI website, the team spent over 2,000 hours creating and implementing the chatbot in order to provide an "immersive AI experience."
The chatbot was created by Forever Voices, an AI firm, by evaluating Marjorie's now-deleted YouTube footage and combining it with OpenAI's GPT4 software.
Forever Voices CEO John Meyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He tweeted on Thursday:
“„Proud of our team for the thousands of hours of work put into this. An incredible step forward in the future of AI-to-Human interaction!- John Meyer
According to a Fortunereport, CarynAI made $71,610 in revenue after just one week of beta testing the "virtual girlfriend." Fans apparently pay $1 each minute to utilize the chatbot, which has over 1,000 users.
CarynAI is designed to provide users with an intimate experience, although it is not intended to engage in "sexually explicit" conversations.
However, after outlets reported that the chatbot do so when prompted, Marjorie issued a statement to Insidersaying that the AI was "not programmed to do this and has seemed to go rogue. My team and I are working around the clock to prevent this from happening again."
According to Irina Raicu, head of internet ethics at Santa Clara University's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, the debut of CarynAI is premature "because problems that should have been absolutely anticipated don’t seem to have been."
Previous tools had similar issues as CarynAI, according to Raicu. She cited a recent event in which Replika, a firm formed similarly to give helpful AI companions, was scurrying to combat pornographic roleplay among its chatbots.
View this video to learn about the experience of having a virtual girlfriend:
I GOT AN AI GIRLFRIEND
Raicu is also concerned that CarynAI's claims to potentially "cure loneliness" are not supported by enough psychological or social studies.
“„This kind of grand claim about a product's goodness can just mask the desire to monetize further the fact that people want to pretend to have a relationship with an influencer.- Irina Raicu
According to her, these chatbots might add "a second layer of unreality" to parasocial relationships between influencers and admirers.
Raicu believes the CarynAI claim, particularly Marjorie's declaration that it is "an extension of my consciousness," is problematic.
“These are claims that AI researchers have been trying so hard to combat, to tell people this is absolutely not what such tools do even if the language now is sounding like there’s sentience behind it,” she said. “There isn’t.”
Influencers, according to Raicu, should be aware of the Federal Trade Commission's recommendations on artificial intelligence goods. The FTC issued guidelines for advertisements marketing AI technologies in February, urging companies to avoid inflating claims.
Meyer told Fortune that his organization is seeking a chief ethics officer and that ethics are taken "seriously."
Marjorie is still tweeting about the bot. She wrote on Friday:
“„If you are rude to CarynAI, it will dump you.- Marjorie
Daniel Barrett
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