BuzzFeed’s Infinity Quizzes turn a handful of user responses into personalized stories. The new format combines the company’s quiz writers and quiz-takers with an AI tool BuzzFeed calls “Buzzy the Robot,” built on OpenAI’s publicly available API.
From quiz answers to personalized stories
Each quiz begins with a theme and asks users a few keyword questions. The answers then shape a short narrative, with possible variations that BuzzFeed describes as “infinite.” The format has some of the fill-in-the-blank feel of Mad Libs, but the generated story is intended to reflect the person taking the quiz.
At launch, the offering included six quizzes. Four were tied to Valentine’s Day, one was sponsored by an advertiser, and one was available only to premium subscribers. The titles included “Create Your Own Rom-Com,” “Generate a Break-Up Text,” “Date Your Celebrity Crush” and “Find Your Soulmate (Hint: It’s a House Plant).”
The other two were “Create Your Own Cinematic Universe For You and Your Friends” and “Create a Cult for You and Your Friends.” The range shows how BuzzFeed was applying the same prompt-and-response approach to romance, friendship and humor.
AI assists, but people still shape the quizzes
BuzzFeed presented the product as a collaboration among its quiz writers, its AI Creative Assistant and the people answering the questions. In the company’s description, AI can help make content that would not exist without it, such as a large number of instant, individualized quiz results. It can also enhance work created by people.
The system is based on OpenAI’s publicly available API, trained on a blend of text, code and information prior to June 2021. BuzzFeed had also experimented with AI before this launch, including a picture generator introduced in 2021.
Generating a story is not the same as reliably producing a polished one. Early results could feel awkwardly worded or generic, and the company was testing and adjusting the quizzes to make the outcomes entertaining and relevant. That work illustrates a practical part of generative AI products: user input can create many variations, but the experience still needs design and refinement.
Questions about data and business value
BuzzFeed said it saves anonymized prompts and results from OpenAI to improve performance. The company also said the information would help guide which quizzes it builds next. A spokesman pointed to OpenAI’s data privacy and security policies as protections for user data.
That leaves a distinction between the personal details a user types into a quiz and the anonymized prompts and results the company says it retains. The source does not disclose further details about how the arrangement works, including whether OpenAI receives a share of sponsorship revenue.
The launch also put the product in a wider business context. BuzzFeed is listed on Nasdaq, and news of its OpenAI partnership lifted its stock after a period when shares had been trading at less than a dollar each. The article noted that the price had since calmed down, leaving open whether the deal’s effect on investor interest would last.
A test of what generative AI can add
Infinity Quizzes arrive amid excitement and concern about generative AI. The technology can use human cues to produce narratives, music, images and other content, raising questions about the future role of creative workers. Those concerns were especially salient after BuzzFeed had announced plans to lay off 12% of its workforce just weeks before news of the OpenAI partnership emerged.
The quizzes offer a concrete, bounded example of AI-generated content: people supply answers, writers shape the experience, and software produces personalized variations. Whether that model becomes a lasting part of BuzzFeed’s business depends on more than the novelty of the output. The launch leaves open questions about revenue, sponsorships, data practices and how much human work the process will continue to require.