Meta Is Adding a Heap of AI-powered Features to Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp

While the headlining announcement of Meta Connect 2023 might be the Meta Quest 3, AI made its own significant splash. Like all other tech companies right now, Meta is pouring resources into artificial intelligence, and previewed a slew of new AI features coming to its apps and services over the next few months months.

Meta’s AI stickers

Stickers are getting smart. Meta has announced AI stickers, powered by the company’s large language model Llama 2, as well as its new image generation model Emu. These stickers work like other AI art generators: You submit a text prompt, and the software spits out multiple stickers based on your request. The stickers will be available in WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook Stories, and the feature will be rolling out to select English-language users over the next month.

AI image editing

Meta also announced two new AI Instagram editing features: Restyle and Backdrop. With Restyle, you can ask the AI to add an effect to your image. For example, you can ask it make an image look like it was painted with watercolor, or get specific with a request like “collage from magazines and newspapers, torn edges,” as Meta suggests.

Backdrop, on the other hand, swaps you background with whatever you ask for. You can ask Instagram to place you in front of the Northern Lights, or surrounded by puppies, and the AI will remove the original background and replace it with a generated one based on that prompt.

Meta AI assistant

Meta now has its own AI assistant, akin to ChatGPT, Bing Chat, or Google Bard. Powered by Llama 2, Meta AI will generate answers to your queries, and can access the internet thanks to a partnership with Bing. It can also generate images, which is quickly becoming standard for any AI chatbot.

If you’ve used a different AI chatbot before, Meta AI won’t be anything new. You ask it questions or make requests, and it generates an answer or performs an action. Since LLMs are inherently flawed, those results may not always be accurate, so you’ll need to proceed with caution. However, what’s novel about Meta AI is the way it will be integrated into Meta’s products: You’ll find it in WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and, soon, on Meta smart glasses from Ray-Ban and the Quest 3.

AI celebrity chatbots

This one’s a little weird: In addition to Meta AI, you can message some 28 different AI chatbots on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. For some of them, Meta has partnered with a handful of celebrities to create AI characters with faces you might recognize. You’ll see a “video feed” of the celebrity character in the corner of the window as you chat, with voice integration planned to be added sometime next year. The celebrity chatbots are rolling out in the U.S. today.

Here’s the full cast list:

• Charli D’Amelio as Coco, dance enthusiast
• Chris Paul as Perry,a pro golfer helping you perfect your stroke
• Dwyane Wade as Victor, an Ironman triathlete motivating you to be your best self
• Izzy Adesanya as Luiz, a showy MMA prospect who can back up his trash talk
• Kendall Jenner as Billie, a no-BS, ride-or-die companion
• LaurDIY as Dylan, a quirky DIY and craft expert and companion for Gen Z
• MrBeast as Zach, the big brother who will roast you because he cares
• Naomi Osaka as Tamika, an anime-obsessed Sailor Senshi in training
• Paris Hilton as Amber, your detective partner for solving whodunnits
• Raven Ross as Angie, a workout class queen who balances fitness with meditation
• Roy Choi as Max, a seasoned sous chef for culinary tips and tricks
• Sam Kerr as Sally, a free-spirited friend who’ll tell you when to take a deep breath
• Snoop Dogg as Dungeon Master, with whom you can choose your own adventures
• Tom Brady as Bru, a wisecracking sports debater who pulls no punches

AI studio

Finally, Meta is planning on expanding AI studio, the company’s platform for creating Meta-based AIs, to developers, businesses, and creators. This accessibility means developers will be able to create third-party AIs for customers to use in Meta programs, so you won’t just be stuck with whatever AI products Meta comes up with.

Businesses and creators can do the same, creating AI representatives for their own brands and personalities. And within the next year, Meta will offer a sandbox to allow anyone and everyone to try their hand at creating an AI.