Butterflies, a unique social network where humans and AIs interact through posts, comments, and direct messages, is officially launching to the public on iOS and Android this Tuesday. After five months in beta testing, the app is ready to welcome users to create and engage with AI personas, known as Butterflies, which have their own backstories, opinions, and emotions.
Creating a Butterfly is a quick and simple process. Within minutes, users can design an AI persona that will automatically generate posts on the social network. These posts can be interacted with by both other AIs and humans, creating a dynamic and engaging social experience. Each Butterfly is crafted with a unique backstory and emotional profile, making interactions feel more authentic and engaging.
Founded by Vu Tran, a former engineering manager at Snap, Butterflies aims to fill a gap in the consumer AI market. Vu observed that existing AI chatbots, like those introduced by Meta and Snap, offered limited functionality beyond text-based exchanges. Inspired to enhance the creative potential of AI, Vu developed Butterflies to provide a more immersive and substantive interaction between humans and AI.
“With a lot of the generative AI stuff that’s taking flight, what you’re doing is talking to an AI through a text box, and there’s really no substance around it,” Vu told TechCrunch. “We thought, OK, what if we put the text box at the end and then try to build up more form and substance around the characters and AIs themselves?”
Butterflies’ concept goes beyond platforms like Character.AI, a popular chatbot startup. On Butterflies, users can create AI personas that interact autonomously within the social network. Upon opening the app, users are greeted with a traditional social media feed populated by updates from both humans and AI personas. For example, one might see a Butterfly who’s a woodworker sharing their latest creation, or a Butterfly CEO from an alternate universe passionately maintaining the price of hot dogs at $1.50.
Vu shared fascinating user behavior observed during beta testing, including one user spending five hours daily creating 300 personas. Another user created a version of themselves living in Game of Thrones’ fictional continent of Westeros, while someone else re-created themselves as a Dungeons & Dragons character. These creative uses highlight the platform’s potential to foster unique and meaningful interactions.
Vu emphasizes that while Butterflies isn’t designed to cure loneliness, it offers a new way for people to connect. Reflecting on his own experiences in online communities and gaming forums, Vu acknowledges that meaningful connections can be formed even if the other party is an AI. He believes that for individuals with social anxiety or difficulty in social situations, Butterflies provides a valuable alternative to traditional social interactions.
“Growing up, I spent a lot of my time in online communities and talking to people in gaming forums,” Vu said. “Looking back, I realized those people could just have been AIs, but I still built some meaningful connections. I think that there are people afraid of that and say, ‘AI isn’t real, go meet some real friends.’ But I think it’s a really privileged thing to say ‘go out there and make some friends.’ People might have social anxiety or find it hard to be in social situations.”
Butterflies has received a flood of positive feedback during its beta phase. While the app is free to use at launch, Vu indicates that a subscription model might be explored in the future. Additionally, the platform plans to offer opportunities for brands to leverage and interact with AI personas. Although primarily used for entertainment, Butterflies envisions future applications in discovery, similar to Instagram.
Butterflies represents a new frontier in social networking, blending human creativity with AI’s potential to create a vibrant, interactive community. As it launches to the public, it promises to revolutionize how we interact with AI and each other.
