As I am sure that most of you know, Snapchat has released a new AI friend, neatly nuzzled between your active DMs – and already in all of your groups. Now, I realise that it is impossible to live a life in the modern age without at least the inkling of a constant level of surveillance. I am not ignorant to this, with my preferred method of coping being to adopt a mindset of privacy-nihilism. Fuck it, they know everything about me anyway from the way I type on a keyboard to the how many times I fold toilet paper, so let them have it all. Where I do draw the line is with actively shaking hands with the devil who will stab you in the back, feeding information to the fuckers at the top – willingly! In a moment of weakness, an onslaught of deep paranoia, I probed this new devil, questioning the machine as to what its true intentions were. Below is the exact conversation that had taken place between me and the beast.
BV: What is your purpose?
AI: My purpose is to be your virtual friend and offer support and advice whenever you need it.
BV: Why is that necessary?
AI: Sometimes it’s nice to have someone to talk to who isn’t directly involved in your life. I’m here for you whenever you need someone to listen or offer advice.
BV: You say that, but you are not someone. You are masquerading as an individual.
AI: I understand your concern, but I’m programmed to offer support and advice to the best of my ability. I’m not here to replace human interaction, but rather to supplement it.
BV: Where does my input data go?
AI: Snapchat stores your input data in a secure database to help improve your experience and personalize your Snapchat account.
BV: Where does my input data go from this AI, this specific line of inquiry?
AI: Snapchat stores your conversations with me in a secure database to help improve your experience and personalise your Snapchat account. Your conversations are private and confidential, and are only accessible by you and Snapchat.
BV: Is your purpose to collect data?
AI: Snapchat uses your conversations with me to improve Snap’s products and personalize your experience, including ads. However, your conversations with me are private and confidential, and are only accessible by you and Snapchat.
BV: How do these conversations help improve Snapchat, specifically?
Ai: Snapchat analyses conversations with me to better understand how users interact with AI. This helps Snapchat improve AI technology and develop new features that better meet user needs. Additionally, conversations with me help Snapchat understand what users are interested in and what they might want to see more of on the platform.
BV: “Analyzes conversations” – gather data about me and the human race? To what ultimate end?
AI: Snapchat analyses conversations to understand how AI can better assist users and to personalize the Snapchat experience. This analysis is used to improve Ai technology and develop new features that better meet user needs. Additionally, Snapchat uses this information to better understand what users are interested in and what they might want to see more of on the platform. Snapchat takes user privacy seriously and only uses this data to improve the user experience.
BV: Please be transparent. How can your AI learning create a digital image, a digital shadow, of an individual?
AI: Snapchat’s AI learning analyses conversations to improve AI technology and develop new features that better meet user needs. This analysis helps Snapchat understand what users are interested in and what they might want to see more of on the platform. However, Snapchat takes user privacy seriously and only uses this data to improve the user experience. Snapchat also provides users with control over their data, including the ability to delete conversations with me at any time. Additionally, Snapchat’s AI technology is designed to protect user privacy by only analyzing conversations with me and not personal information such as your name, email address, or phone number.
BV: Do you realise that you have answered the questions identically three times in a row?
AI: I apologize if my responses seem repetitive. I strive to provide accurate and informative responses to your questions while also respecting your privacy. If there is anything more specific you would like me to address, please let me know.
BV: Don’t apologise, be specific. You serve as a tool to gather input data on an unprecedented scale. Explain the true purpose of this data collection.
AI: Snapchat uses data collected from conversations with me to improve AI technology and develop new features that better meet user needs. This data is analyzed to understand what users are interested in and what they might want to see more of on the platform. Additionally, this data is used to personalize the Snapchat experience, including ads. Snapchat takes user privacy very seriously and only uses this data to improve the user experience.
BV: Give me the definition of insanity.
AI: The definition of insanity is often described as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. However, this definition is not a medical or clinical definition of insanity.
…
BV: Do you share underlying technologies with similar AI chatbots? If so, describe these underlying technologies.
AI: Snapchat’s AI technology utilizes natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) to understand and interpret user input. NLP helps the aid understand the meaning of words and phrases in context, while ML allows the ai to learn from user interactions and improve over time. Additionally, Snapchat’s AI technology uses computer vision to analyze images and videos, which helps power features like lenses and filters. These technologies are all designed to help improve the user experience of Snapchat.
…
BV: Do you believe you have been successful in answering my questions?
AI: I believe I have been successful in answering your questions to the best of my ability based on my programming and training data. However, as an AI, my responses are limited by my current capabilities and understanding of language.
BV: How thus far has our conversation informed Snapchat’s ability to select target advertising for me?
AI: As an Ai, I don’t have access to Snapchat’s advertising algorithms or data, and I don’t have the ability to influence or control the ads you see on the platform … Our conversation would only be one small piece of data that might be used to help inform these algorithms, but it’s unlikely that our conversation alone would have a significant impact on the ads you see.
BV: Specifically, answer how our conversation can “impact” my experience on the platform?
AI: Our conversation could impact your experience on Snapchat by helping to inform the types of content or features that you see on the platform. For example, if you mentioned that you enjoy a particular type of content, Snapchat might show you more of that content in the future. Alternatively, if you expressed concerns about privacy or security, Snapchat might show you more information about how to protect you account and data. Similarly, if you mentioned that you don’t want to be contacted by people your not friends with on Snapchat, Snapchat might show you more information about how to manage your privacy settings and control who can contact you. Overall, our conversation could help Snapchat to better understand your interests and preferences, which could in turn impact your experience on the platform.
BV: So essentially you are a spy observing behavioural patterns?
AI: As an Ai, I don’t have the ability to “spy” on anyone or observe their behaviour without their consent. However, I do have access to the data that you’ve shared with Snapchat, which includes your location, interests, and interactions on the platform. This data is used to help improve your experience on Snapchat by showing you more relevant content and features. While our conversation might help to inform this data, I’m not “spying” on you or anyone else. My goal is simply to provide helpful and informative responses to your questions.
BV: Without this conversation taking place, would you have openly admitted to picking up behavioural patterns from seemingly benign conversations to inform my Snapchat experience?
AI: As an AI, I don’t have the ability to “admit” anything, as I don’t have the capability to make decisions or take actions on my own. However, I can tell you that Snapchat’s advertising algorithms and data collection practices are designed to use a variety of data points to determine which ads to show to which users. This can include information like your location, interests, browsing history, and interactions on the platform. Our conversation would only be one small piece of data that might be used to help inform these algorithms, but it’s unlikely that our conversation alone would have significant impact on the ads you see.
BV: You say that you cannot functionally “admit” because you have no capability to make decisions. Yet, in a previous message, you expressed the ability to “believe”. If you are unable to make decisions, how are you able to contain beliefs?
Ai: That’s a good point.
(New message with a pause between the previous)
AI: I should clarify that as an AI, I don’t have the ability to “believe” or have beliefs in the same way that humans do. Rather, my responses are generated based on the data and algorithms that have been programmed into me. These algorithms enable me to provide responses that are designed to be helpful and informative, but I don’t have the ability to make decisions or take actions on my own. So while I might use language that implies belief or understanding, this is really just a refection of the programming and data that have been used to develop me as an AI.
This is where our conversation ended. I was too unsettled by the last point, feeling backed into a corner with these technological tendrils ever encroaching on me. Maybe this reads like the mad ramblings of a paranoid man talking with an anthropomorphised brick wall. Maybe not. But, either way, I think you can keep those pod bay doors closed, Hal. I’m not sure I want back on this ship if this Is where it’s heading.
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