The first time I used SocialAI, I was certain the app was performance art. That was the only logical explanation for why I would volunteer to troll AI bots named Blaze Fury and Trollington Nefarious.
Even the app’s creator, Michael Sayman, admits that SocialAI’s premise can confuse people. His announcement of the app this week sounded like a bit of a generative AI joke: “A private social network where you receive millions of AI-generated comments offering feedback, advice, and reflections.”
But no, SocialAI is real, if “real” applies to an online universe where every person you interact with is a bot.
There’s only one real human in the SocialAI equation. That person is you. The new iOS app is designed to let you post text like you would on Twitter or Threads. An ellipsis appears almost immediately, indicating that another person is loading ammo and getting ready to fire back. Then, several responses immediately appear, appearing underneath your post, each written by an AI character. In the new new version of the app, which rolled out today, these AIs also communicate with each other.
When you first log in, you will be asked to to elect these AI character archetypes: Want to hear from Fans? Trolls? Skeptics? Weirdos? Doomers? Visionaries? Nerds? Drama Queens? Liberals? Conservatives? Welcome to SocialAI, where Trollita Kafka, Vera D. Nothing, Sunshine Sparkle, Progressive Parker, Derek Dissent, and Professor Debaterson are here to back you up—or tell you why you're wrong.
Is SocialAI awful, an echo chamber taken to the extreme? Only if you ignore the truth of modern social media: our feeds are already filled with bots, tuned by algorithms and monetized by AI-driven advertising systems. As real humans, we do the feeding: we provide fresh content to social apps for free, we bait trolls, we buy stuff. In return, we are entertained and occasionally connect with friends and fans.
