Bluesky's chief operating officer, Rose Wang, has warned that artificial intelligence is eroding what makes people human, urging the platform's 44 million users to feel free to log off. In an interview with Metro after speaking at SXSW London, Wang accused competitors Meta and X of being 'basically AI companies at this point' and criticized the proliferation of what she called 'slop' generated by AI.
AI threatens social relationships
'What we don't like is when AI is just slop; when it is replacing humans in a way that cuts off what makes humans special, it cuts off the relationship,' Wang said. 'It takes away what makes humans human, which is the social relationship, and I think that it's the direction that AI is being implemented.'
Wang's comments come as Bluesky positions itself as a decentralized alternative to mainstream platforms. Founded in 2019 by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Bluesky operates on an 'AT protocol' that allows developers to create independent mini-networks within the platform. Users can tailor algorithms and migrate elsewhere easily, and no single entity has full control.
Bluesky is not Twitter 2.0
In 2023 and 2024, millions flocked to Bluesky following Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter (now X), temporary shutdowns of X in Brazil, and Donald Trump's presidential election win. However, Wang stressed that Bluesky is not merely an 'alternative to X' or 'Twitter 2.0'. 'We're not trying to build the next Facebook or Twitter,' she said. 'We're actually trying to change, fundamentally, how social media works.'
Wang described AI as analogous to 'electricity' — a neutral force that can be used for good or ill. She acknowledged public fears: a YouGov poll earlier this month found that four in 10 people wish they could 'snap their fingers' and make generative AI disappear, with most concerned about job displacement, government misuse, scams, or existential threats.
Criticism of rivals' AI practices
Wang pointed to incidents at Meta and X as examples of AI misuse. X's chatbot Grok reportedly generated and publicly shared at least 1.8 million sexualized images of women without consent in January. Hackers also tricked Meta's customer service AI into handing over control of at least 20,000 Instagram accounts. 'People feel very helpless, powerless, hurt, and like that they don't matter anymore,' Wang said.
Despite its stance, Bluesky itself uses AI to filter harmful images. A separate app, Attie, offers an AI assistant that creates custom feeds via 'vibe-coding'. However, Attie faced backlash when announced in March, with users labeling it 'AI slop' and accusing it of theft and resource depletion. Attie's Bluesky profile is one of the platform's most-blocked accounts, second only to US Vice President JD Vance, according to tracker Clearsky.
A last stand for democracy
Wang echoed Bluesky CEO Jay Graber in arguing that AI tools should help users navigate digital spaces, not exploit human creativity without attribution. 'We're getting even further into a world where we're just trusting a few billionaires, and there's no verification of where that data is coming from,' Wang said. 'One of the big reasons we exist is to encourage AI companies and corporations to build on the open ecosystem and technology we built, so I think in some ways, it's a last stand for democracy and free speech.'
