Meta launches AI Chatbot and 28 AI characters across WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram

Meta is introducing an AI chatbot assistant, Meta AI, and 28 AI characters for WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. The new AI assistant is designed to perform general tasks like trip planning and question answering, just like any chatbot, but integrated within the Meta's apps universe. It uses Microsoft Bing for real-time web results and can generate high-resolution images at no cost. The AI model it's powered by a custom model that leverages technology from Meta Llama, which has improved performance for Meta's assistant. The feature will begin to roll out to some users in the U.S. starting on Wednesday, September 27, and will partially expand to other territories (Meta has not yet announced exact dates, we can assume it won't be long).

According to the company, Meta AI is unique due to its conversational style, ability to provide concise answers, and extended context window. Along with the assistant, Meta is also launching AI characters, including virtual versions of celebrities such as Charli D’Amelio, MrBeast, Snoop Dog, and more. These characters have animated profile images, and theoretically, the tones of their conversations will correspond to the personality of the celebrity they are based on, which, if you ask me, reminds me a lot of what we have seen in other alternatives like character.ai. The company has also launched a tool that allows users to create AI stickers for chats and stories within WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, using Llama 2 and EMU for image generation. This feature will be gradually rolled out to select English-language users over the next month.

Meta said it has implemented safeguards to prevent misuse of the assistant, such as promoting dangerous activities or 'innapropiate'. The AI doesn't currently use public user data from Instagram and Facebook, but Meta plans to leverage this data to improve the assistant's capabilities (well, it's Meta after all, so this is pretty expected.). Given its extensive user base across its messaging platforms, Meta believes this gives them an advantage in the chatbot market. All this means that there will now be a native way to interact with AI within platforms used by hundreds of millions of people, something that was previously only possible through third-party services or bots like Pi - Personal AI. Additionally, this also means that the user base indirectly using Microsoft Bing search engine has just ridiculously expanded exponentially.