Something big is brewing behind the curtains in the Meta corporate office. Ever since the rivalry started between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, Meta has been continuously releasing updates on all of its platforms. It was only last month that WhatsApp channels were released. Here comes the new feature update, which is the Meta AI. It is a Bing-powered AI assistant leveraging technology from Llama 2 and the latest large language model research.
At the annual Connect conference, Meta announced several AI products and features that will soon be available on WhatsApp. It is considered the biggest ever update on its platforms. The announcement was like this: “We are inspired by the possibilities of generative AI and how it can help people be more creative, productive, and entertained simply by sending a message.”
There are basically three new AI services announced. As of now, these features are not officially released to everyone. Only beta users can access this. This includes the following:
Chat with Meta AI
If you are a ChatGpt user, there is nothing new for you here. If not, you will be excited about this new announcement. Ask Meta AI Assistant any questions, and you will get real-time responses for sure. What is interesting is that you can get perspective from 28 meta characters that respond in different ways, which includes influencers like Snoop Dogg, Kendall Jenner, and Naomi Osaka. Just start the conversation by opening a chat with the AI. Only you or a group participant can initiate this, not Meta or WhatsApp.
When it comes to privacy, your personal messages remain end-to-end encrypted. Talking to a Meta AI assistant does not require linking your WhatsApp account to Facebook or Instagram. AIs can read what is sent to them, not the other way around. You can also delete messages by typing “/reset-ai” in a conversation.
However, there is a catch. Presently, the knowledge base is limited, and the information available largely existed prior to 2023 and is not updated. As Meta said “Our journey with AIs has just started, and it isn’t purely about building AIs that only answer questions”. So watch out for more.
Create your own AI Stickers
Have you ever felt that you are outnumbered by someone arguing on the other side with stickers? It feels like losing a game. Fears apart, now you can generate custom, high-quality stickers in seconds simply by chatting with a Meta AI assistant. The assistant is powered using technology from Llama 2 and an image generation model called Emu.
Sometimes words cannot speak, but stickers can convey how you’re feeling at the moment. So it is just another medium for people to have a healthy conversation. Meta is collaborating with influencers to play and embody some of these AIs. In addition, Meta has added that they are customizing the WhatsApp API so that businesses can also use it to create AI-powered chat experiences for their customers.
Photorealistic Image Generation
By typing the prompt /imagine with your descriptive text, WhatsApp will soon let you generate images of your wishes. You may also edit or even co-create images with friends on Instagram using meta-AI tools, namely restyle and backdrop. This uses the technology from Emu and leverages learnings from the segment anything model of Meta.
Restyle allows you to edit your images by applying the visual styles of your choice. The descriptors can be like a collage from a newspaper to describe the look and feel of the image. Backdrop edits the image background. For example; Prompts can be like “put me in front of Eifel Tower” or “surrounded by puppies.”
But is there something wrong? How will we differentiate between images that are real and AI-generated? Meta found a way out. For generated images, there will be an invisible marketer indicating that the image is AI-generated and not the other way around.
Coming up Next
A question we all do not like. But Meta is prepared for the past, present, and future. The company said that there will be more in the coming months. It includes using meta-AI in different languages and more. We’ll publish more information as these services become available.
Meta introduced the AI Studio some days ago. The platform will be made available for people outside the meta circle to build AI creatives for different meta platforms. Additionally, businesses can take advantage of these AI services by creating AIs that reflect brand values and give customers a personalized touch. A meta press release revealed that soon AI Studio will be thrown open for all users to experiment with their own AIs.
Meta is actively working on a project linking all of the Meta platforms into a single ecosystem. In short, it is the metaverse. In the future, you can expect AI stickers and chats in the metaverse ecosystem to also provide a greater level of realism, embodiment, and connectedness.
Conclusion
Finally, AI is here. Right at our doorstep. AI is enabling new forms of connections, thanks to generative technologies. It is fast improving its ways of adapting to different situations and giving you an experience that is creative, expressive, and productive. Generative AI is a new technology, and its responses may not be accurate. So keep in mind not to become overwhelmed whenever Meta AI delivers you inaccurate results.
I am a person who regularly keeps track of Meta. It is sure that Meta is trying to be an all-in-one platform. Therefore Meta’s revenge will not stop with X (formerly Twitter) and its CEO, Elon Musk. Meta will eventually take on other players in the field, which might include Telegram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.