Instagram owned real friendships. Its new AI chatbots encourage fake ones

Anyone in the U.S. who’s logged onto Instagram in the last few days has likely encountered a new feature within the app’s profile menu, highlighted with a bright blue tag and labeled “AI Studio.” Clicking on the icon leads users to Meta’s most recent AI tools engagement play: A platform that lets users create a chatbot on any topic of their choosing, and lets influencers and businesses build an AI chatbot version of themselves to DM with their fans. AI Studio’s launch comes soon after...