Snoop Dogg reminded me the other day to “get real, dude” and that “I gotta learn to relax, you know?” He also recommended to me on more than one occasion to “light one up” (“wink-wink”). To be clear, it wasn't the real Snoop Dogg, just a weird AI recreation of him inside Instagam's direct messaging system.
In September of last year, Meta announced that it was rolling out nearly 30 AI characters on Instagram with personalities like Snoop Dogg, Kendall Jenner and Mr. Beast. Since then, however, she had heard little about it and had not seen the promised Avatars (they look like the stars but do not include their names) anywhere on the social media platform.
However, I recently opened Instagram direct messages and noticed a new icon for Meta AI. I clicked on it and opened an AI chat home screen that introduced the new feature and offered two different styles of interaction: chatting with different characters and talking to your own assistant. There is also a request to help Meta improve the quality of their AI chats.
I selected OK and what looked like a colorful Instagram DM screen opened. At the top was this note: “Messages are generated by AI. Some may be inaccurate or inappropriate.” Way to calm me down, Meta.
Below was a small introductory message from the chatbot: “My name is Meta AI. Think of me as an assistant who is here to help you learn, plan, and connect. How can I help you today?”
I started by asking the AI to “imagine a gorilla driving a train up a mountain.” He did useful work.
Then I remembered those AI avatars and wondered if I could find them integrated into this system. So I wrote: “I want Snoop Dog[g] to give me life advice.”
Meta AI didn't hesitate and quickly spit out five paragraphs in what can only be described as “Snoop Dogg's voice.” Here are a couple of paragraphs:
“Hey, what's a good family? I'm your boy Snoop Dogg, and I'm here to share some knowledge like a hot new single. Life advice, you say? Alright, let me share some wisdom from an OG like I.
First of all, always remember to be honest, friend. Be true to yourself and don't let anyone else define your path. “You have to know what you want and go after it, whether that's making hits, drinking gin and juice or just chilling with your friends.”
The advice continues like this and even includes a mention of “a good joint.”
Honestly, it was pretty good advice and I instantly felt closer to this fake Snoop Dogg. Naturally, I asked for a picture of the two of us hanging out. Instead, I got a picture of Snoop Dogg hanging out with himself and a real dog.
Try as I might, I couldn't get Meta AI to create an image for me to appear in, which is strange since a social media platform like Instagram knows a lot about me, especially how I look.
I refocused on getting more advice from AI Snoop Dogg.
About romance, “Snoop” warned me that “I have to set the mood, you understand?” He suggested “candles, flowers, some soft jazz playing in the background like Pharrell and I on Beautiful“.
While I was sleeping, “Snoop” told me, “You should try to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night, to avoid the heat.”
When talking to my kids, “Snoop” recommended that I “listen to them, like I listen to my friends when we're rocking out to new beats.”
As for multitasking, “Snoop” was surprisingly structured, breaking down his advice into four steps that included prioritizing, staying focused, delegating and taking breaks, “like when I'm drinking gin and juice between verses.” AI Snoop really likes to talk about his “gin and juice.”
When I asked if AI is a good thing, “Snoop” didn't mince words.
“Hey, what's good family? AI, huh? Well, let me tell you, it's like a double-edged sword, you know what I mean? On the one hand, AI can be a powerful tool, helping us automate tasks, make sick beats, and even drive cars (but not like me, because I'm the real OG driver, by shizzle).
On the other hand, it can also take work, make mistakes, and sometimes be downright crazy (like when it tries to auto-tune my voice – no one has time for that!).”
The AI Snoop Dogg and I could go on like this all night, talking about blunts and gin and juice and the dangers and benefits of AI, but the Meta AI probably had to adopt a different personality and I had to go home, to my crib , for shizzle.
A little later, I ruined everything when I switched to the Mr. Beast AI character and discovered that his AI tips started out the same as AI Snoop Dogg's and followed a similar trajectory but without Dogg's signature style. Instead, in the end, AI Mr. Beast told me that he had to go and “give away some more money and make some crazy videos.”
Honestly, I still prefer AI Dogg's advice.
