Warriors’ Chris Paul sells out to Facebook in bizarre AI stunt

Despite being employed in the Bay Area for less than four months, new Warriors guard Chris Paul has already bought in on a gratuitous Silicon Valley tech venture.

Paul is one of many celebrities and influencers who have lent their likenesses to Meta for a new AI project, the company explained in a press release Wednesday. Paul is joining a cast of fictional characters users can interact with on one of Meta’s many messaging apps. His character is Perry, a “pro golfer helping you perfect your stroke.”

Other athletes getting involved include retired NBA superstar Dwyane Wade, former UFC champion Israel Adesanya, tennis star Naomi Osaka, Australian soccer legend Sam Kerr and future football Hall of Famer Tom Brady.

Each character has a Facebook profile; “Perry” introduced himself in a post dated Tuesday explaining that he is “dedicated to helping golfers level-up their game.” A shot of Paul’s smiling face serves as Perry’s profile picture.

But outside of their images on the profile pages, it’s not exactly clear how deeply these celebrities are involved with their characters. Meta explained in its Wednesday press release that the characters will each be powered by AI, with their own “unique backstories,” and the conversations are meant to “feel like talking to familiar people” but not exactly the celebrities themselves.

The chatbots aren’t yet available for public messaging except to chosen beta testers, and a promotional GIF showing examples of conversations features a classic AI warning that certain responses “may be inaccurate or inappropriate.” Meta at least acknowledges this partly in its release, stating that these fictional characters’ knowledge is “limited to information that largely existed prior to 2023.”

Perhaps the strangest part is that, with the exception of Adesanya, none of the celebrity athletes embody characters involved in the sport that made them famous. Paul is advising on golf. Wade is portraying an Ironman triathlete — ironic, as he never played all 82 games in an NBA season throughout his career. Osaka is an anime obsessive, Kerr is a “free-spirited friend,” and Brady is basically Skip Bayless (full description: “Bru, Wisecracking sports debater who pulls no punches”).

Companies like Meta have rolled millions of dollars into AI development and promise a grand, AI-enabled future. But in the meantime, it seems they’re content to sputter out “innovations” like a fictional friend or an online sports debater and push the boundaries of how unimaginative things can get.