You Can Now Create and Befriend Obnoxious AI Personas on Instagram

Meta announced it’s starting to roll out a new feature in the US called AI Studio, allowing users to create their own personal AIs on Instagram.

It added that this feature could be used in two ways: as a personal assistant that can tell you jokes, give you advice, etc., or as an extension of yourself to answer frequently asked questions, for example. The latter is more appropriate for Instagram creators.

You don’t necessarily have to create an AI to use the feature; you can also browse AIs on the app to chat with. I quickly tested the feature out and browsed Instagram for an AI to befriend, and it gave me “Gay Bestie” by user Sluttypuffin as my first recommendation, ripe with all the stereotypes you can imagine. The excessively overdone persona was looking forward to “Spilling the tea, one sip at a time,” which I met with a rather aggressive eye-roll on my part.

If you want your own AI on AI Studio, you can pick from several prompt templates that Instagram offers or start one from scratch. Head to AI Studio or start a new DM on Instagram and click “Create an AI chat.” Meta also has an entire handbook with a step-by-step AI creation guide. It includes expert tips and best practices on navigating AI Studio.

Once you’ve created an AI for yourself, you can use it for your personal use (asking it for advice, memes, Instagram caption suggestions, recipes, and so on) and also share it on Messenger or WhatsApp to show it off to your friends.

I asked my Gay Bestie AI for advice on what to wear, and it gave me a painfully chatbot-y, basic reply that read, “You better come correct! How about a sleek black jumpsuit with some statement accessories? Or, if you want to go bold, rock that red dress you’ve been dying to wear. Either way, own it!” I don’t understand how this response differs from what ChatGPT, Copilot, or any AI chatbot would’ve given me.

Influencers are usually asked the same question hundreds of times. I like that they can use AI Studio to create a personal assistant to answer commonly asked queries or even complete quick chores such as linking to a certain brand in their reels. It’s nice that the AI responses will be labeled as such so that the audience isn’t deceived.