Snapchat's 'My AI' Feature Receives 1-Star Reviews, Users Are Not Happy

Jace Dela Cruz, Tech Times 25 April 2023, 07:04 am

Snapchat's latest feature, "My AI," has received an overwhelming number of one-star reviews from its users, according to a report from TechCrunch. The feature, powered by OpenAI's GPT technology, is a chatbot that offers instant responses to users' queries.

Since the global release of "My AI" to non-subscribers, Snapchat's app has seen a sharp increase in negative reviews and complaints on social media.

(Photo: MrJayW/ Pixabay )

One-star Reviews

According to data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, the average US App Store review for Snapchat was 1.67 over the past week, with 75% of reviews being one-star.

The average US App Store review for Q1 2023, which stood at 3.05 with just 35% of reviews being one-star, is substantially higher than the recent average review for Snapchat's My AI feature.

Sensor Tower also noted a five-fold increase in the number of daily reviews over the last week. Another app data provider, Apptopia, has confirmed the firm's recent findings on Snapchat's App Store reviews.

According to their analysis, the keyword "AI" was the most commonly mentioned term in Snapchat's reviews over the past week. This keyword received an "Impact Score" of -9.2, which measures its effect on sentiment.

Apptopia notes that the day after the release of "My AI," Snapchat received three times more one-star ratings than its typical average. Although there has been a slight reduction in one-star reviews, they are still relatively high.

Snap's decision to include an AI chatbot in its social app appeared to be a wise move, given the growing demand for social AI chat experiences. However, the unexpected appearance of "My AI" inside the app without users' consent has raised concerns.

All About "My AI"

"My AI" is pinned to the top of the user's Chat feed and cannot be removed or blocked like other conversations. The Chat feed is a space where users communicate with their friends regularly, and the presence of "My AI" is doubling the screen space that Snapchat is taking up in the feed, leading some users to view it as an intrusion.

The "Team Snapchat" chats are already a dominant feature in the Chat feed, making it difficult for "My AI" to gain traction.

As a result, users have expressed their dissatisfaction with the new feature on various social media platforms, including Twitter, and have also reached out to Snapchat to share their complaints.

"My AI" has been widely criticized by users, with many demanding that it become an opt-in feature or be removed completely. Several users have gone as far as to threaten to delete the Snapchat app altogether.

Moreover, there is pushback against the requirement of having a Snapchat+ subscription to remove "My AI" from the Chat feed. Only subscribers of Snapchat+ can access early My AI features and unpin or delete the chatbot from their Chats.

Snapchat has yet to respond to the backlash, but the overwhelmingly negative response to "My AI" could lead to changes in how the company introduces new features to its users.

For now, many Snapchat users are unhappy with "My AI," and it remains to be seen if the chatbot will be removed or if Snapchat will make changes to address users' concerns.