In what is fast becoming a trend, Google has quietly shelved its “Me Meme” feature that was rolled out just a few months ago.
Me Meme was a whimsical, AI-powered tool inside Google Photos that allowed users to insert their own likeness into classic memes.
But as Android Authority reports, Google has scrubbed all mention of Me Meme, deleting the Google Photos support page and the announcements on social media.
Android Authority notes that Me Meme might have been dumped all the way back in May since it hasn’t been mentioned on Google Photos’ creations page since late spring.
This is a very short run for a feature, and while there has been no announcement from Google on why Me Meme was jettisoned, it is likely because of a lack of users.
If that is the case, it is in vogue with a slew of other AI apps — some of them far higher profile than Me Meme. Take OpenAI’s video generator, Sora. Despite the company spending an estimated $1 million per day on the app, which similarly allowed users to upload their likeness for AI videos, it was officially canned in March having shed hundreds of thousands of users in the two years it was active. Time and time again, these types of AI image apps fail to capture enough audience or prove to be overwhelmingly unpopular, bordering on offensive. Case in point, Meta botched the launch of its new AI model, Muse Image, by announcing that it would be able to create AI images of not just the user, but anyone with a public profile on Instagram by simply tagging their account.
This announcement immediately sparked a privacy backlash and criticism from organizations such as SAG-AFTRA. Leading Meta to U-turn over the model’s capabilities in just a matter of days.
“We’ve removed this feature while we take time to listen to feedback and evaluate the approach,” Meta said in a statement.
Meta has form for this: having previously backtracked on AI-generated Facebook and Instagram accounts and scaring people by randomly showing AI-generated pictures of users on their Facebook and Instagram feeds.