Here’s a suggestion for my fellow media colleagues running news platforms with declining audiences: why not follow Meta’s lead and boost your numbers with AI-generated users? Joking aside, that’s exactly what Facebook and Instagram are planning to do. According to reports, they’ll soon launch AI-generated accounts that can share content and interact with real users, even though these accounts are bots as real as fairy tales.

It’s wild to think this is a serious idea—something actual people at Meta decided on—but here we are. Bots are about to become the next big thing on Facebook and Instagram. Connor Hayes, Meta’s VP of Product for Generative AI, told the Financial Times: “We expect these AIs to function like regular accounts. They’ll have bios, profile pictures, and can generate and share AI-powered content on the platform. That’s where we see things heading.”

Like every tech giant, Meta is diving headfirst into AI, and they’ve already launched some intriguing tools, like a ChatGPT-style chatbot and video/photo-editing features. But I can’t help feeling skeptical about this whole fake user idea. How do they even spin this to investors during earnings calls? “Another great quarter! User engagement is skyrocketing—thanks to all the bots we created!”

Honestly, the amount of AI-generated content on Instagram and Facebook already feels overwhelming.It’s one of the reasons the experience feels less enjoyable lately. And there are so many risks: bots could easily spread misinformation, propaganda, scams, or just annoying junk that makes people want to log off.

Right now, I can’t scroll through Facebook’s main News Feed without getting bombarded by irrelevant suggested posts. The only way I stay sane is by using the “Feeds” tab to check updates from people and pages I actually follow. Imagine that—a user who just wants to see content they like! I can practically hear Meta execs laughing at this idea from their offices in California.