Meta gives Muse an adorable mascot amid AI doomerism
A friendly, adorable face helps present the technology as a useful, harmless buddy rather than an existential threat.
TL;DR
- Meta's new AI agent, Muse, uses a mascot named Jollybot to promote consumer adoption.
- The friendly mascot aims to counter the perception of AI as an existential threat.
- Jollybot, designed by Alex Cornell, has appeared in Meta's rollout and partner announcements, like Spotify's integration.
- A visual mascot makes advanced AI less intimidating than abstract concepts or human avatars.
- The brand faces risk as the mascot can be prompted into various, potentially controversial, situations.
- Alexandr Wang, Meta's chief AI officer, has posted memes featuring Jollybot.
- Users can customize their agent's name, appearance, and style.
- Jollybot animations, like typing on a keyboard, show the AI agent working in the background.
- This strategy follows a history of tech companies using friendly faces for products, like Microsoft's Clippy.