Facebook Messenger’s new AI-generated stickers go viral for all the wrong reasons

A new feature currently being rolled out to Facebook Messenger will allow users to send AI-generated stickers. Users have been quick to generate all manner of wacky content, which has since gone viral.

Meta, owners of Facebook, has rolled out a new feature to its Messenger app. The chat app is one of the first of Meta’s renewed focus on providing AI-powered features in its suite of apps.

However, Facebook’s AI stickers are primed for malicious manipulation. For instance, in one case, a user has been generating stickers of Waluigi holding a gun. On TikTok, user Geordie McGrath has been tinkering with the tool for his audience. The TikToker has generated images of a dog with a machete, in addition to stickers of various celebrities.

McGrath has discovered that Facebook will generate a massive variety of stickers, including Taylor Swift and a “voluptuous girl”. However, it will not generate images with a gun – unless you use the word rifle. In further tests, it wouldn’t create a sticker for the current prime minister of Australia but could create a “bootleg” Bart Simpson.

Facebook Messenger AI stickers can create images of child soldiers

An X/Twitter user has pointed out that the AI can also create images of child soldiers, along with stickers of Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, with various parts of his body exposed. The user, Pioldes, has then gone on to create variations of The Pope, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Mickey Mouse using the toilet.

Meta has made a huge push into AI recently. The company has already released its language model, Llama 2, as well as made it clear how it intends to implement AI. These include AIs impersonating celebrities like Snoop Dogg or historical figures like Abraham Lincoln.

Facebook Messenger’s AI stickers are slowly rolling out to users. We’ve tried to create some on the app, but it appears to not be available to all users worldwide.