Failure or change of strategy? Discord will deactivate Clyde, its AI chatbot

The messaging app is getting rid of its ChatGPT-powered tool, which was nothing more than a lackluster experience.

Like almost everyone at the start of the year, Discord was tempted by conversational AI programs. The result responded to the name of Clyde, a chatbot that could be accessed on a small selection of servers by mentioning him, like any other (well human) member.

But now, several months have passed, and the excitement around tools powered by ChatGPT has faded somewhat. It’s time for many services to take a step back from their effectiveness or usefulness.

A unique new member

Even if you use Discord, chances are you’ve never come across Clyde. This bot remained quite discreet, stagnating in its development and testing phase, so not all servers had access to it. And, finally, things will not go any further, since the publisher announced that it would deactivate its chatbot from 1^er December. “ Users will no longer be able to summon Clyde in DMs, group DMs, or server chats », We can read on the Discord blog.

This bot was powered by ChatGPT, so it was able to answer questions, hold conversations, and even find a GIF or image if asked. The tool was quite well designed, and Discord emphasized usability. The company also allowed administrators to customize Clyde’s name, avatar, or biography on their servers.

However, not everything was perfect. The chatbot, for example, had the bad idea of ​​engaging in unsolicited flirting sessions. This had the potential to cause some setbacks to Discord, which is obviously used by minors. It could also be a formidable tool for carrying out scams, and had the unfortunate tendency to generate obscene or crude messages, at least in its early days. He honestly wasn’t the easiest member of a server to deal with.

A chatbot that needs to be monetized?

Although Discord did not specify the reasons for this retirement of Clyde, we can assume that the experience allowed us to get a good idea of ​​his abilities and his limits. Either way, the company doesn’t seem to be done with the technology, says Kellyn Slone, Discord’s director of product communications. “ Discord continually strives to bring users new features and experiences », she explains to The Verge. “ Clyde is an iteration of this work, and we can’t wait to unveil new experiences. »

It is therefore likely that generative AI will appear again in the application, but perhaps in another form. The company will surely seek to monetize it, making it accessible to Nitro users or boosted servers only. Indeed, the use of OpenAI tools, which has just thanked its CEO, is not free, and the time for experimentation without additional costs is becoming rare.

AI on Discord is still not over

For now, users will have to turn to third-party developers to access generative tools or conversational bots. Discord is currently experimenting with a personal iteration for each Clyde user, allowing text to be generated in public and private conversations.

The company focuses mainly on more “AI” tools. concrete “. For several weeks, server administrators have benefited from AutoMod, an automatic moderation tool, using rather efficient algorithms, and which seems to be proving its worth. Discord could also move a little more towards image generation, with tools like Avatar Remix.

Source : The Verge