Meta has launched a fleet of AI-powered chatbots which will be available on all of Meta’s social media platforms and will be able to answer questions, generate creative text formats, and even impersonate celebrities.
The move is seen as an attempt by Meta to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It is also hoping to attract younger users, who are increasingly flocking to apps like Snapchat and TikTok.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized that the company’s AI strategy involves creating different AI products for different uses, as opposed to a single flagship chatbot. He added that Meta’s conversational bots aren’t intended to just convey information – they’re meant to be entertaining.
“I think this is going to transform the way that people use all of our products,” Zuckerberg said.
One of the new AI chatbots, called Meta AI, will be able to help users answer questions in real time. For instance, users who are on a hike in Santa Cruz, California can ask the tool for other locations to explore. Meta AI will also be able to drum up creative images from text-based prompts.
New features on Instagram will let users create AI-generated images. One of these tools, Restyle, enables people to transform their photos into new styles, including making them look like they were painted with watercolors. Another, Backdrop, can change the scene or background of an image based on a text prompt such as “Put me in front of a sublime aurora borealis,” the company said. It added that any images that are created or edited by Meta AI, Restyle and Backdrop would be labeled.
Celebrity-driven chatbots are intended to give users the impression they are talking to familiar people about their interests on Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.
The sources for this piece include an article in DataCenterKnowledge.