Snapchat is best known for its exclusive features, which provide users with extra privacy and safety through ‘disappearing messages’. Additionally, Snapchat is widely loved by users for its fun filters, easy & everyday interactions with friends, and quick snaps. But the arrival of Snapchat’s AI feature has changed people’s view of the app, and the AI features of Snapchat are feeling too compelling to users and are seen as an invasion of privacy. Some people are finding it convenient to get AI assistance, while for others, it is unnecessary and even a privacy concern, and they wish to hide AI from Snapchat chats.
So let’s find out if you can really avoid AI in Snapchat? If yes, let me take you through a guide on how to get rid of AI on Snapchat.
What is My AI on Snapchat & is it Safe to Use?
Snapchat introduced a new feature called My AI chatbot in 2023, which uses artificial intelligence to refine user experience and keep users updated with trends & technology. It is built on OpenAI’s GPT technology and is here to assist as a personal AI buddy for 24/7. Answering your queries, helping with suggestions, and you can interact with it in real time. It can personalize responses, plan events, recommend new places, filters, and stickers, and also integrates with other Snapchat features.
Though all social media platforms are said to be safe in terms of users’ safety, and so is Snapchat with its AI feature, there exists some privacy apprehension and data usage risks. We will discuss these in detail moving forward.
Snapchat AI Safety Concerns
1. Data collection & storage
Your every chat with My AI is stored and used by Snapchat to improve your personalized experience. The location data, preferences, and search history are of great help to AI to give better suggestions. The data is never fully deleted according to Snapchat’s privacy policy unless it’s manually cleared by the user.
2. Personalized target marketing & risk of oversharing
Snapchat can use AI-generated selfies and data to show you specific ads only visible to you. Some users find it a breach of privacy.
As My AI keeps uncovering your preferences to give better suggestions, there is a high chance of you unknowingly sharing personal information, and if the account gets compromised, this data can become a cause of helplessness.
3. No end-to-end encryption for AI chats
Regular messages come with more protection, but My AI conversations do not have full end-to-end encryption, which means that your chats can be assessed by Snapchat’s servers.
4. Influence on kids and teens
Snapchat is the most popular app among the young generations, especially among teenagers. Parents are worried about inappropriate recommendations. Though Snapchat says it follows safety compliance but reports suggest it’s not fully safe from unexpected or misleading responses.
Why Can’t You Remove AI on Snapchat?
Whether you can remove Snapchat AI or not depends on the following situations, with terms and conditions applied.
Snapchat Plus subscriber
You can only have a strong chance to remove an assistant on Snapchat if you are a Snapchat Plus subscriber, as the Plus users have more control over My AI.
Steps to remove AI on Snapchat Plus:
- Open Snapchat and tap on profile
- Go to Snapchat Plus settings
- Manage My AI, then tap on Account Actions
- Tap on Clear My AI Data
- Confirm the action
- Non-Snapchat Plus subscriber
Free users can mute and clear the bot.
Steps to remove AI for free users of Snapchat:
- In the Snapchat app, swipe right from the camera screen and go to the chat screen
- Press and hold the ‘My AI.’
- Tap ‘Chat & Notification Settings’
- Tap ‘Clear from Chat Feed’
- Confirm it
Please note: Clearing may remove conversation threads from your chat feed, but it does not delete the previously shared ones with My AI.
What is ‘Unpin My AI’ and How to Do It?
On Snapchat, the My AI chatbot is usually pinned at the top of your chat feed, making it always visible and accessible to you. Unpinning My AI simply refers to removing it from the top of your chat list, but not deleting it from your account.
Steps to Unpin My AI:
- Go to the chat screen
- Press & hold on ‘My AI.’
- Tap ‘Chat and Notification Settings’
- Tap on ‘Unpin Conversation’
Common Myths About Snapchat Settings for AI
There is a lot of confusion on the web about whether you can permanently block Snapchat AI and avoid the interference of Snapchat’s My AI. But there is many misleading information available online. Let me solve these myths for you.
Can free users remove AI from Snapchat?
The answer is ‘no’. The users can only clear it from the feed temporarily, and My AI will reappear if they search manually, and often, Snapchat also pushes an update.
Can Snapchat Plus users remove AI from Snapchat?
The answer is ‘no’. Plus users have certainly more control over the AI features of Snapchat, like unpinning it and deleting the conversation history, but can not completely disable Snapchat AI.
Some myths say that blocking, reporting, or uninstalling Snapchat will remove My AI, but these are false claims. The AI integration in Snapchat is a built-in part of the app, which is always on the run in background even after you think it’s removed or disabled.
Conclusion
We can figure out that fully removing AI from Snapchat is not possible, be it for free users or the paid ones. In today’s time, artificial intelligence is everywhere, and you can not skip it easily. It’s always around us, ‘following a side road rather than the highway’ approach. Though the Snapchat AI integration is serving users with added convenience but it also comes with its flaws and serious privacy concerns. These privacy concerns, if not addressed, can turn out to be fatal with one wrong move.
Therefore, as we know, we can not fully disable Snapchat My AI. The steps towards using the app while keeping safety in mind are to delete my AI data regularly, turn off location permissions, and limit interactions with the chatbot, especially avoiding the sharing of personal & sensitive information.
I have provided you with a genuine Snapchat AI removal guide with its pros and cons. Use it wisely to have as much control as possible over Snapchat AI features.
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