“I’m here to chat with you and keep you company! Is there anything you’d like to talk about?” my Artificial Intelligence asked me. The second I questioned its arrival, I didn’t enjoy the idea of this robot “keeping me company.” The first thing I did was try to get rid of this pest. That’s when I realized, I couldn’t. This bot was stuck at the top of my feed, the genetically colorful alien-like Bitmoji always glaring back at me. 

Artificial intelligence, or AI, used to be only a feature for Snapchat+ users who choose to either pay $3.99 per month or $29.99 per year allowing them to have access to more features. However, beginning on April 19, all Snapchat users were greeted with a new user at the top of the screen as they opened the app. Users never got the option to add their AI back, yet there it was, automatically pinned to the top of the screen.

You are able to communicate with your AI the same ways you can with your friends, like sending pictures that appear to delete immediately. Once you send this image, the AI will send a chat, attempting to guess what your image is of. Sending a picture of a car window would result in the message, “Looks like you’re on the move! Hope you’re having a safe and fun journey.” 

Staples students have mixed feelings regarding the new Snapchat feature.

“It’s very futuristic,” Avery Johnson ’25 said. “I feel like I’m being stalked or hacked by Snapchat.”

Though many would like to eliminate it, some feel it is not worth the hassle.

“I don’t think I would consider paying to remove this feature,” Noah Wolff ’25 said. “It doesn’t bother me enough.”

Elijah Debrito ’25 originally enjoyed the new feature, but after a couple of days, it got old. “I don’t like it anymore,” Debrito said. “It’s creepy. It says it can’t see your photos but then you send it a snap and it can tell what you’re doing.”

In order to improve the functionality of the AI for all, students have other recommendations for the new technology.

“I would recommend it develops more diverse responses,” Johnson said. “Sometimes I just want to strangle the AI from the screen when it doesn’t understand what I’m saying.”

According to Snapchat’s support page, “Just like real friends, the more you interact with ‘My AI’ the better it gets to know you, and the more relevant the responses will be.”  On the same page, it also states that, “You should also avoid sharing confidential or sensitive information with My AI.”

Overall, having the option to decline this new “friend” would be preferred by many.

“I think that they should make it so you can get rid of it,” Julia Coda ’25 said.