McKenna Bitikofer
Staff Writer
AI tools, such as ChatGPT, have helped make our lives easier by helping creativity flow. With the help of AI, people have been able to correct their mistakes and learn new ideas, which has reshaped the world as we know it. However, has it become too much? Is it really necessary to add AI to social media apps, such as Instagram and X?
The idea of AI has been around since the early 1950s, with the hope of making a unique tool to make life easier. Seventy years later, AI can now be seen as more of a disadvantage than an advantage. Some of the latest developments in AI involves social media, as this technology has been added to increase engagement on multiple platforms.
In June, Instagram released a new feature called “Meta AI.” This new addition has left many users conflicted and curious as to why Instagram, an app to make or continue connections around the world, would add a search engine in the mix.
Freshman Ryan Mitchinson is one of many that doesn’t understand why this feature was added.
“There is honestly no real need for it,” Mitchinson said. “I don’t really use it, it’s kind of pointless.”
Meta clarifies that, “Meta AI aims to be a helpful assistant and is in the search bar to assist with your questions.” With Instagram’s engagement rate rapidly increasing since the introduction of Reels, adding a search bar further increases engagement and helps Instagram transition away from being just a social media platform, as it now acts as something similar to Google and Safari. With the similarity to major search engines, many find the feature useless as a more familiar search engine is a click away.
“Why would I ask to use Instagram AI when Google is more accurate and has been around for years?” freshman Haylee Barker said. Possibly in due time, Meta AI could capture the constantly changing attention of Instagram users.
X, formerly known as Twitter, has released their own version of Meta AI in the form of “Grok 2.” For $11 a month, Grok 2 allows subscribers to have artificial intelligence create posts on their X feed for their followers to see. Though this can be a great tool for business owners to market products at a more successful rate, it destroys the creativity and authenticity behind the accounts.
No matter what you use X for, whether it is politics, business or simply for enjoyment, the use of this AI takes away from the genuine thoughts and ideas behind user’s posts and instead publishes inauthentic threads.
To compete with Meta and X, Google has released “Gemini.” Google Support explained the purpose behind their service by saying, “Google collects your Gemini Apps conversations, related product usage information, info about your location and your feedback.” This forces a specific agenda into our lives, keeping people trapped in their phones. In comparison to Meta and Grok 2, Gemini stores information to produce more accurate results the more information it collects.
Though AI started off as a reach for hope, it has turned into a leach grabbing everything in our lives. Especially with Grok 2 and Gemini, they limit one’s will power and creativity which only sets our society back. Meta AI, however, can be useful in specific instances and does not outright harm people, even though it does get in the way of daily Instagram activities.
The advancement of AI needs to slow down and stay along the lines of helping professionally, as life seems to further fall into the clutches of social media.
