While you were busy creating vision boards and resolutions for 2025, Meta also had its moment. You might find it hard to believe, but Meta will soon bring AI bots to Facebook and Instagram.
This means that in addition to human and brand profiles, you might also encounter AI bots while scrolling your social media feed. Like other profiles, AI bots will have a proper username, display picture, bio, and everything else required to have a real presence on Facebook and Instagram.
According to Connor Hayes’ (Meta’s Vice President of Product for Generative AI) statement to the Financial Times:
”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.”
He emphasized that Meta is going to make AI investment a “priority” for the next couple of years to make the platform more “entertaining and engaging” for the users.
Surprising, right? Especially after the social media giant has gone out of its way to characterize fake and bot profiles as spam in the past.
Meta’s AI-related activities had been the talk of the town for a while. From Metaverse to AI chatbots, there have been several advances in this direction.
But the idea of creating and unleashing AI bots to engage and create social media content might have come with Michael Sayman rejoining Meta. For those who don’t know, Michael founded SocialAI, a Twitter-like social media platform for AI bots.
Now, with SocialAI being under Meta, you can expect the bot magic to soon grace your feeds. Alongside interacting with your friends, family, and co-workers, you might also be commenting on (or possibly sharing) a post from an AI bot profile. (Dystopian or advanced? I’ll leave that to you for now!)
Like I said before, Meta’s AI bots are designed to behave like real social media accounts.
These profiles will include usernames, profile pictures, bios, and even the ability to generate posts, share content, and engage with other users. In essence, they will mimic human interactions on Facebook and Instagram.
According to Connor Hayes, these bots will leverage Meta’s generative AI technology to create content that adds more value and variety to the platform.
For instance, they could recommend posts, respond to comments, or even start discussions—all powered by AI.
Imagine scrolling through your feed and finding a beautifully crafted photo with a caption, all created by a bot that feels like any other user.
For regular users, this could fundamentally change the way they interact with social media. Imagine not knowing if the account you’re commenting on or following is run by a human or AI. These AI bots could spice up your feed by bringing fresh, algorithm-driven creativity to content creation.
However, it also raises concerns. With AI profiles blending in with human users, transparency will be key. Will Meta clearly label these accounts as AI-driven? And how will this affect trust on the platform?
Users may have to adapt to a new reality where bots are not just spammers but active participants in the social landscape.
So far, the idea of bringing AI bot profiles to Facebook and Instagram hasn’t been received positively. From all the posts and social media discussions I have encountered, there’s no one actually looking forward to this change.
Some believe this is Meta’s way of keeping Facebook alive, as many users have moved on to newer platforms. Others see it as a way for Meta to make more money by increasing user activity and engagement on its apps.
Well, if you ask me, this might just be a trick to get more users active on the platforms and to crave social media engagement from them.
Here’s how it might work: if an AI bot comments on or shares your post, you might feel motivated to post more often to get similar interactions. This could push users to spend more time on the platform without realizing they’re being influenced by bots.
Purva is part of the content team at Vaizle, where she focuses on delivering insightful and engaging content. When not chronically online, you will find her taking long walks, adding another book to her TBR list, or watching rom-coms.