April 16, 2024, 1:01 pm | Read time: 4 minutes
Users of messaging apps typically have a range of private contacts they communicate with through the platform. WhatsApp offers a bit more, at least in the U.S. There, the Meta service allows correspondence with AI-generated chat partners, some of whom not only closely resemble real superstars but are also designed to behave like them. TECHBOOK introduces the latest creation from Meta’s AI lab.
Chatbots are now familiar. These AI-generated, text-based dialogue systems are often encountered on websites: They understand various customer concerns and can help resolve issues. The purpose of this function is to digitally assist users, which in turn reduces the workload for “real” service employees at hotlines. However, chatbots can do more than just solve problems. As is typical with artificial intelligence (AI), these computer programs have access to a vast amount of data, which they can package into natural sentences thanks to their language processing capabilities. This makes them theoretically a good conversational partner. The instant messaging service WhatsApp–specifically, Meta AI–doesn’t stop at theory.
Overview
Meta AI: WhatsApp introduces artificial chat partners
In a press release, the internet company Meta, which includes WhatsApp as well as Facebook and Instagram, introduces its “Meta AI in beta phase.” This is described as an advanced conversational assistant. It can “provide information in real time and generate photorealistic images from your text inputs in seconds,” which users can then immediately share with their friends. Speaking of friends, the chatbot is integrated into the messenger–the mentioned conversational assistants are thus intended to complement general WhatsApp contacts and can be easily messaged. Previously, to use AI programs, one had to take a small detour through programs like ChatGPT or Bard.
In the U.S., the WhatsApp chatbot is already active and, according to the tech portal “Gadgets 360,” also in some parts of India.
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How can you imagine this?
According to the release, the chatbots are not just there to provide information. They are characters that stand out with personality, opinions, and interests–”making it more fun to interact with them.” The contact with them is supposed to feel like communicating with familiar people. To this end, Meta AI has worked with celebrities and influencers–figures that regular WhatsApp users might know–and incorporated their traits into the new artificial intelligences. “Each of them has a profile on Instagram and Facebook, so you can find out what they’re about.”
Communicating likenesses of influencers and celebrities
Among the templates for the AI characters is the American influencer Charli D’Amelio. Her alter ego–”Coco”–is described as dance-enthusiastic. Nice? That’s not all. Among the 28 AIs are some well-known personalities, including model and entrepreneur Kendall Jenner as “Billie,” rapper Snoop Dogg as “Dungeon Master,” and socialite Paris Hilton in the role of “Amber,” a passionate detective.
What’s behind it?
At first glance, it’s a fun gimmick. Chatting with celebrities you admire in real life is sure to entertain. The U.S. magazine “Intersect” even claims to have virtually befriended one of the AI characters and jokes: “Who needs a therapist when you have Kendall Jenner? Uh, I mean Billie!” The article humorously celebrates the immense value of being cheered up via WhatsApp by someone who is unconditionally there for you (“someone who will never judge you”).
As recently as February 2023, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the creation of AI personas for the near future announced. “We still have a lot of foundational work to do before we can deliver truly futuristic experiences,” he said at the time. Experiences with text (such as via WhatsApp) still needed to be explored, as well as with images through creative Instagram filters and advertising formats, and so on. The goal: to help people in a variety of ways. Now the AI characters are here, at least in certain regions. And what could “help” the company in return is that users, while chatting with the supposed Kendalls and others, also share a lot of personal interests and data.