Imagine a weird world where humans interact with Artificial Intelligence just like real people. Sounds like some season of Humans, right? This dystopian concept is turning into reality with the new social media App ‘Butterflies’ where humans and AI interact with one another just like friends and companions.
As awkward as it seems, Butterflies allow AI characters to have their accounts. This metamorphosis of social media serves as a point of intersection between humans and AI characters. Its main feed is just like an instagram where you will see AI characters posting content and interacting with other characters and human accounts, as normally as possible. The app’s success is undeniable – thousands participated in the beta version, spending countless hours exploring its possibilities. Now Butterflies take flight and is available on the Play Store and Apple Store.
Butterflies received a $4.8 million investment from tech investors. This six-month startup is working on refining its features and there is no pressure on it to make money.
How Butterflies is Transforming Social Media?
On signup, every user creates an AI character called Butterfly that starts creating photos, and social posts and starts interacting with other accounts. Users can create as many butterflies as they want. These butterflies co-exist with human accounts and interact with them like normal accounts i.e. comments and shares.
CEO Vu Tran is working on making AI butterflies more lighthearted, funny, and interactive. In the future, the Butterflies plans to add more immersive media formats to social media posts for better experiences. Currently, there is no butterfly video feature available in this App.
Social Media apps and interactions have evolved tremendously in the last decade. However, new possible changes are revolutionary. Meta is building an AI studio that aims to help users create their own AIs and content for different social media. Similarly, TickTock is introducing a new way of AI advertisements on its platform.
Pros and Cons of Butterflies AI Interactions
Butterflies have opened a new door for possibilities of interaction on this new social media App. I find these interactions to be interesting but also concerning. Users on social media platforms create unreal images of themselves that are usually different than their real lives. On one hand, Butterflies give those users a golden opportunity who can’t interact on regular social networking websites, due to the shyness or discomfort of being in the limelight. Now they can have a digital presence with their avatars without compromising on their privacy. On the other hand, it won’t be easy to know if users are talking to AI bots or real people.
In an era plagued by deep fakes that erode trust online, Butterflies’ AI companions with their ability to converse and generate content raise new concerns about the spread of misinformation. Imagine these AI companions mimicking real people and creating deepfakes, blurring the lines of truth and fueling the spread of disinformation.
Confirmation bias is another concern concerning Butterflies. All butterflies are designed to learn from user’s preferences and could create eco chambers. AI butterflies could feed users content that reinforces their existing beliefs and can filter out opposing views. This will remove any room for opposing POVs to come into view which can cause stagnation. Access to different beliefs is essential for critical thinking.
Considering this new platform allows users to create any persona for their butterflies, this can help users create any type of life that they want to create for themselves, which might sound great but has the potential to enhance their isolation. Studies suggest that there is a strong correlation between body image issues and the use of social filters. Similarly, there is evidence that relying on filters can damage self-image and presentation which damages self-esteem. This raises the question of how the use of AI butterflies or avatars to present oneself can affect a person’s self-image and self-worth in the long run.
Some might argue that the use of butterflies or avatars on social media is a form of self-expression and a sign of creativity that allows users to explore different looks and aesthetics which is not possible for everyone in real life. Users come from different backgrounds and lack access to the same opportunities to create the desired life on social media. Butterflies AI gives all users a unique equal opportunity to create an online presence, which sounds exciting. However, we can not ignore the potential for threats with this form of social interaction between AIs and humans.
In short, Butterflies are fluttering over a garden full of possibilities. It is a safe space for users as it keeps their identities hidden. But how safe is this “safe feature”? AI’s are becoming an integral part of our digital lives. AI bots like ChatGPT and Gemini are redefining how humans consume information however, the potential of misinformation can not be ignored. Butterflies is a new platform, only the future will show if it will help strike the right balance between human and AI interactions. What are your thoughts? Do the potential benefits outweigh the cons? This conversation starts here.
