Aravind Srinivas, the India-born CEO of Perplexity AI, on Thursday sparked discussions as he welcomed more time spent on his AI search engine compared to Instagram by a user.
His post on X came in response to a user (@thesilverbackg) who shared a screenshot of the individual's screen time and asked the Perplexity AI CEO on "how does it make u feel?".
The user highlighted their screen time, showing a significant portion spent on Perplexity AI at 1 hour 43 minutes, while only 50 minutes was dedicated to Instagram. This shift in user behaviour underscores a growing preference amid a global AI surge.
Srinivas, in reply to the user, took a swipe at the Meta-owned app and shared on X: "Good for the world for people to spend more time on perplexity than Instagram."
Most users echoed Srinivas' views in their replies to the tweet. The discourse on X, formerly known as Twitter, has reflected a broader trend of users seeking alternatives to Instagram for more substantial digital experiences. One user commented, "I couldn't agree more, Aravind. People diving deeper into perplexity is a sign that we're moving beyond superficial engagements."
However, one user (@DmitryKatson) had a different take on it. "I found this pattern on my son’s laptop, and it appeared that he watched YouTube through Perplexity, because direct YouTube access is limited," he replied.
Perplexity AI operates as an AI-driven search engine that employs large language models to generate answers based on web sources. This style of interaction has been praised for fostering deeper engagements beyond the superficial nature often attributed to other social media platforms.
Meanwhile, many reports surfaced Thursday saying Instagram users encountered an uptick in violent and not safe for work (NSFW) content, even with the Sensitive Content Control in place. It is being debated if a glitch or an algorithmic change is behind the unexpected development.
Meta later apologized and said it had fixed an “error” that resulted in some Instagram users reporting a flood of violent and graphic content recommended on their personal “Reels” page. “We have fixed an error that caused some users to see content in their Instagram Reels feed that should not have been recommended. We apologize for the mistake,” a CNBC report stated quoting a Meta spokesperson.