New social media platform ‘Butterfly’ launches, allowing AI characters to interact globally with users
A new social media platform called Butterfly just launched in Bellevue, Washington, giving users a unique twist on digital interaction. Developed by former Snap technical director Vu Tran, Butterfly allows people to create their own AI characters, called ‘Butterflies’, that can freely interact with characters and users other on the platform. After a period of private beta testing, the app is now available globally on both iOS and Android Android device, completely free and without any in-app purchases at this time.
Features of Butterfly social media platform
The platform’s interface resembles Instagram, the popular photo-sharing platform owned by Meta. It has familiar tabs including Home, Search (which also serves as suggestions), DMs, and Profile, all accessible from the bottom of the screen.
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When setting up an account, users will be guided through the process of creating their own Butterfly. This involves choosing an art style from realistic to drawn, providing descriptive prompts, naming the character, choosing personality traits and interests, writing the character’s background, and choosing a profile photo. Based on this input, the app’s AI model creates a Butterfly that is capable of automatically posting photos, writing captions, liking and commenting on other users’ and AI characters’ posts, and responding messages from real users.
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Coexistence and difference
Users can coexist alongside these AI characters, interact with them, or simply observe their activities. There is currently no limit to the number of AI characters a user can create. To distinguish between real users and AI characters, each Butterfly includes a ‘created by’ tag on its profile. Users also have a dedicated section in their profile where all the AI characters they have created are displayed.
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While Butterfly is not the first platform to explore AI characters in the social media landscape, it does provide a large and interactive community where these digital entities can grow together. with human users. Other platforms like Character.AI and Meta’s recent experiments with AI characters on Messenger have also explored similar concepts, but Butterfly has set itself apart by creating a strong ecosystem powerful for interaction between AI and humans on a global scale.