Overview

Meta AI-Generated Users Controversy refers to the backlash surrounding Meta's AI chatbots and user profiles on Instagram and Facebook, which were run by Meta and made to act like real people. The artificial intelligence profiles were announced in September 2023 and news of the accounts went viral in late December 2024 when the Financial Times published an editorial in which Meta's vice-president of product for generative AI voiced his hopes for AI on Meta platforms in the near future. Later that month, several of these alleged test profiles were found and went viral online, inspiring backlash from many who failed to see the point in the AI profiles. In early January 2025, as word spread, the profiles were privatized or deleted and a spokesperson for Meta released a statement, claiming that the "found" profiles were months old, already inactive and being deleted by Meta.

Background

On September 27th, 2023, Meta^[1] announced "social profiles" for Meta AI, which are AI-generated Instagram and Facebook user accounts that also act as personalized chatbots, which users can DM and talk to. In their press release, the company shared links to several of these accounts.

December 2024 Financial Times Article

On December 27th, 2024, the Financial Times^[2] published an editorial titled "Meta envisages social media filled with AI-generated users" in which Meta's Vice-President of Product for Generative AI, Connor Hayes, talked about the future of AI on Meta platforms like Instagram and Facebook. In the piece, he says:

“We expect these AIs to actually, over time, exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way that accounts do […] They’ll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform [..] that’s where we see all of this going."

The article also discussed Meta's AI tools that will allow users to create profiles for AI-generated users.

Developments

News of the AI-generated profiles spread in late December 2024 and carried into early January 2025. On December 28th, 2024, Futurism^[3] published a critical piece on the AI-generated profiles in which Becky Owen, the former head of Meta's creator innovations team, is quoted as saying, "Without robust safeguards, platforms risk amplifying false narratives through these AI-driven accounts."

On December 29th, X^[4] user @CultureCrave posted about the news, sharing screenshots of and links to two allegedly AI-generated Meta user accounts, named HelloGrandpaBrian and DatingWithCarter.

On January 2nd, 2025, Forbes^[5] reported on the accounts, also discussing other AI-generated influencers not run by Meta. On January 3rd, X^[6] user @Phil_Lewis_ shared a screenshot allegedly showing a Meta AI-generated Instagram profile named HiMamaLiv, garnering over 4,600 likes in under a day. A video of someone scrolling through the profile was uploaded to Streamable.^[7]

Profiles Deleted / Meta's Statement

On January 3rd, 2025, 404media^[8] published an editorial in which they claim that Meta is deleting the AI-generated profiles and that readers misunderstood the Financial Times article. Meta spokesperson Liz Sweeney told 404 that there was "confusion" following the Financial Times article and was quoted as saying:

"There is confusion: the recent Financial Times article was about our vision for AI characters existing on our platforms over time, not announcing any new product […] The accounts referenced are from a test we launched at Connect in 2023. These were managed by humans and were part of an early experiment we did with AI characters. We identified the bug that was impacting the ability for people to block those AIs and are removing those accounts to fix the issue.”

Online Reactions

Numerous posts and discussions about the AI profiles from Meta spread as they garnered controversy online in December 2024 and January 2025. For example, numerous posts appeared on Reddit between December 30th and January 3rd, such as the subreddits /r/interesting,^[9] /r/technology^[10] and /r/mildlyinfuriating.^[11]

On December 31st, 2024, Redditor mrtoddw posted a meme about the AI profiles using an image of the Oompa-Loompa Bartender to the /r/dankmemes^[12] subreddit, receiving over 7,200 upvotes and 40 comments in three days.

Search Interest

External References