Just hours after Snapchat launched its My AI chatbot for all users, Missouri mom Lyndsi Lee told her 13-year-old daughter to avoid using it.

“It’s a temporary decision until I understand more about it and can set appropriate guidelines,” said Lee, who works at a software firm. She’s concerned about how the chatbot interacts with young users like her daughter on the platform.

Snapchat’s chatbot, powered by the popular ChatGPT technology, can provide suggestions, answer queries, and chat with users. However, it comes with some notable distinctions from ChatGPT: users can rename it, customize its Bitmoji avatar, and even involve it in group conversations with friends.

This personalization can make interacting with Snapchat’s AI feel more casual and less like engaging with a computer on ChatGPT’s site. This blurred line worries parents like Lee.

“I’m not sure how to teach my daughter to differentiate emotionally between a human and a machine when they seem so similar from her perspective,” Lee said. “I think Snapchat is overstepping a boundary here.”

The introduction of My AI has sparked a wave of criticism, not only from parents but also from Snapchat users who have flooded the app with negative reviews and voiced concerns over privacy, unsettling interactions, and frustration over not being able to remove the feature unless they subscribe to the app’s premium service.

While some users might see value in the AI tool, the mixed reactions underscore the challenges tech companies face when integrating generative AI into their platforms, especially those like Snapchat, which has a younger audience.

Snapchat was among the first companies to integrate ChatGPT through OpenAI’s business offering, with many more expected to follow. The move has thrust families and policymakers into debates about AI safety that seemed distant just a short time ago.

Weeks after My AI was made available to Snapchat’s paying subscribers, Democratic Senator Michael Bennet expressed his concerns in a letter to the CEOs of Snap and other tech companies. He pointed to reports that the chatbot had advised kids on how to deceive their parents.

“These instances would be alarming on any platform, but they are particularly concerning on Snapchat, which is used by nearly 60% of American teens,” Bennet wrote. He emphasized that while Snap has labeled My AI as “experimental,” it has still quickly introduced it to young users.

Snapchat acknowledged in a blog post that “My AI is far from perfect,” but added, “we’ve made a lot of progress.”

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