Shortly after Snapchat announced its new AI Creative Tools, which bring the ability to take AI selfies alongside new AI Snaps tools for Snapchat+ subscribers, some users noticed that the setting that allows Snapchat to use your AI selfie in ads was turned on by default.
In Snapchat, your AI Selfie is created from an image of your face and is a cartoon-like representation of what you look like. You can change the outfit your MySelfie is wearing or regenerate it if you don’t like the results.
Me, myself and MySelfie
We’ve reviewed the settings screens in Snapchat and can confirm that by default you agree to your own personalized AI selfie being displayed in the ads the app shows you.
This has led some to worry about how secure their data is. In a statement to The Verge, Snapchat said, “Advertisers do not have any way to access Snapchatters’ Gen AI data, including My Selfies, or Snapchatters’ private data, including Memories, which allows them to create an AI-generated image of an individual Snapchatter.”
Snapchat’s statement is reassuring, but it wouldn’t hurt to turn the setting off for added safety. To disable Snapchat’s ability to use your My Selfie image in ads, tap on your profile in the top left corner. This will show your AI-generated My Selfie. Now, tap on the settings cog. Scroll down until you see My Selfie, tap on that, and toggle “See My Selfie in Ads” to off. That’s it, you’re all done. While you’re there, you can also make sure that “Generate with My Selfie” is set to “Only Me.”
While Snapchat’s AI Tools require a subscription to Snapchat+, which costs $4.49 (£4.49, AU$5), the ability to chat with an AI chatbot called My AI is available on the free version. Simply tap the Chat button and choose My AI from your contacts list and you’ll enter into a chatbot-style exchange with the AI. It’s a great way to have an AI chat on mobile.