‘This surely won’t lead to weird parasocial relationships’: A new feature will allow people to talk to AI celebrities

AI celebrities feel like something from a bad episode of Black Mirror, but new chatbots are making it a reality.

According to TechCrunch, at Meta Connect 2024, Meta announced celebrity voices for its AI. Awkwafina, Judi Dench, John Cena, Keegan Michael-Key, and Kristen Bell are just among the celebrities who will get AI chatbot versions of themselves.

Intensified parasocial relationships

Even without the technology, some fans already feel an intense personal level of affection towards their idols as part of a parasocial relationship. This includes celebrity worship or feeling as if the celebrity is a soulmate, a best friend—someone you’re close to. These feelings, of course, are not reciprocated. Some artists have already begun explicitly drawing their boundaries, and yet, people felt entitled to invade their space. AI chatbots are not going to help and will exacerbate the feeling of “closeness” fans already feel towards their favorite celebrity.

As Brandon Davis pointed out, this is going to make those instances worse. “This surely won’t lead to some weird parasocial relationships,” he wrote on X. “Surely not.”

It’s one thing to admire certain celebrities, but another to think that you’re special to them. AI chatbots will blur the lines and intensify the delusion. Celebrities receiving harassment and abuse is already common—imagine the intensified entitlement some “fans” would have now that they’re “forming” relationships with an AI version of Kristen Bell.

The consequences are horrific

It’s all fun and games until people ask these AI chatbots questions about taboo topics, politics, and other personal details. We’ve already seen what happened when Taylor Swift’s photos were taken and used explicitly for AI-generated photos. Without proper safeguards, the results are damning for celebrities. They will have to spend their time combatting false narratives and fighting against the circulation of AI-generated images made from their likeness.

Besides, who’s to say that a person who isn’t technologically savvy could tell that these words are just the work of AI? Even those who are familiar with anything AI-generated, from art to words, are difficult to determine as AI. Expect misquotes and fake news to run wild when this AI chatbot for celebrities comes out.