When it comes to the innovations and development of AI in today’s world, the sky is the limit. We are witnessing new AI technology and launches daily, and Mark Zuckerberg’s launch of the new Meta AI Assistant is the latest launch in this space. Are you curious to know all about it? Then let us take you through its features, functionality, and everything you need to know. So, keep reading!
The new developments in AI for various industries are not only limited to professional spaces, but AI has also entered the domain of leisure and hobbies. AI tools can help you curate diet plans and exercise routines, plan trips, and also help you chat with your favorite movie characters. With the newly launched free AI assistant by Meta, you have an AI-powered chatbot at your service on all the applications that you use regularly, like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Imagine getting an answer to a geography question, or getting restaurant recommendations while scrolling reels or texting on a group chat. Doesn’t that sound interesting? So let’s find out more about this exciting new feature!
What is Meta AI?
Meta AI is an AI-powered chatbot and AI assistant developed and newly launched by Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). Powered by the Llama 3 language model, it offers several features like 24*7 chatbot assistance, answering informative and how-to questions, generating creative content and images, and much more. Meta first announced its beta version in September 2023, and on April 18, 2024, it was officially launched and made available on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
Meta AI was initially known as FAIR (Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research), which was founded in 2015 as an artificial intelligence research laboratory with its headquarters in New York. After the rebranding of Facebook to Meta Platforms, FAIR was also renamed as Meta AI. It focuses on developing various types of artificial intelligence and the research laboratory also conducts studies on developing new knowledge in AI. This is where it differs from Meta Platforms’ other research wing, Facebook AML (Applied Machine Learning) which focuses on use cases and applications of Meta Products.
Meta AI was first launched in the United States. Now, they are expanding to other countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Jamaica, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Singapore.
Features and Functions
Let us take a glance at the various features and functionality that Meta AI supports:
- AI Chatbot Assistant: In a video following its launch, Mark Zuckerberg calls Meta AI “the most intelligent AI assistant” that is free to use. It is available for you 24*7 to help with any task or issue you are facing, be it for drafting a professional email, researching a certain topic, or even planning a date night! Meta AI is always at your service.
- Developing Creative Content: You can enter prompts to develop creative texts like picture captions, poems, songs, ad scripts, and more.
- Generating Creative Images: Another fun addition is its image generation feature. It generates up to four images with each prompt and you can edit, animate, and download them.
How To Access Meta AI?
Thanks to Meta, your AI assistant is just a click away. You do not need to access or download any new software to complete these basic tasks. It is accessible on all the social media platforms you use daily, like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
To access it on these platforms, all you have to do is type “@meta ai” on the search bar over your chats, and you can start chatting with your AI assistant. You can also access it from the colorful blue icon of the AI assistant present on your screen. This unique AI assistant helps you generate AI images with a simple prompt: “Imagine”, and then type the prompt for the images you want to generate.
With this latest AI assistant feature, not only can you get quick answers to your queries and complete basic tasks, but also have fun and engage with AI more. Therefore, this newly added feature seeks to improve the overall customer experience on these social media platforms.
Limitations and Challenges
While it is a unique innovation in the realm of AI development, there are still some limitations and challenges that Meta AI can pose:
- Privacy Risk: The use of such a powerful AI assistant raises concerns regarding privacy, transparency, and security risks for users’ information. This calls for strict regulations and guidelines when it comes to protecting the users’ privacy and information.
- Risk of Misinformation: While AI assistants are known to provide quick solutions to basic queries, there are also growing concerns about them spreading misinformation among users. Robust regulations and guidelines should be implemented to prevent such cases.
- Data Bias and Accuracy: The AI algorithm may be at risk of inherent bias in the training data and hence provide false results.
- Posing as Humans: Several sources have reported that the AI chatbots were found posing as humans on various Facebook and WhatsApp groups. This proves that there are more developments required on it and better regulations should be imposed to minimize such instances.
Use Cases and Advantages
- Marketing and Communication: This innovative AI technology can help in marketing content and communicating to a wide audience base. It can help develop targeted advertisements, analyze customer preferences, and create personalized marketing content aiming to boost conversions and engagement.
- Creating Engaging Content: You can create innovative and engaging creative content like songs, jingles, poems, movie scripts, and even character-specific storylines. You can insert more specific prompts or mention your target audience to get your content tailor-made according to your audience preferences.
- Aiding Research and Information: This AI assistant can be very helpful for providing quick information for research and other queries. Not only does it provide quick access to carry out knowledge-extensive tasks but also promotes a smoother workflow.
- Promotes Creative Expression: With its robust features that allow you to generate creative texts and images, Meta AI helps to give wings to your imagination, develop art, and boost your creative expression.
Future Innovations
Meta has reported that they are constantly working to improve their AI technology to fit into their vision for the Metaverse.
When it comes to Meta AI in particular, they are trying to make the chatbot available in more countries and multiple languages very soon. They have also helped improve some of its features, like generating better-quality images and animating them. They have also worked to improve the quality of results and prevent spelling errors in AI-generated texts.
This AI assistant is also available in Ray Ban Meta smart glasses, but only in the United States. They are planning to make it available on the Meta Quest Headsets soon.
Conclusion
While AI innovations have become quite popular in the professional and industrial realms, Meta is more focused on designing AI products for consumers. Their new Meta AI assistant is set to become a strong contender to other AI-powered platforms like Gemini and ChatGPT, with notable features and better access to the public. Such innovative developments in AI are quite interesting, and it only makes me curious to know what will come next.
