Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the way we connect and express ourselves. With the power of generative technologies, AI is enabling new forms of communication and creativity. At Connect, we introduced exciting new AI experiences and features that can enhance your connections with others and give you the tools to be more creative, expressive, and productive.
One of these features is AI stickers. Every month, billions of stickers are sent across our platforms, providing people with a fun and creative way to communicate and express themselves. Now, with our new AI stickers, you can effortlessly generate customized stickers for your chats and stories. Using advanced technology from Llama 2 and our image generation model called Emu, our AI tool can turn your text prompts into multiple unique and high-quality stickers within seconds. This feature, rolling out to select English-language users over the next month in WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook Stories, opens up infinitely more options for conveying your emotions and feelings at any moment.
In addition to AI stickers, we’re also introducing image editing features with AI. Soon, you’ll be able to transform your images or even co-create AI-generated images with your friends. Restyle and backdrop are two new features coming to Instagram that leverage the technology from Emu and our Segment Anything Model. Restyle allows you to reimagine your images by applying visual styles that you describe. Simply type in descriptors like “watercolor” or detailed prompts like “collage from magazines and newspapers, torn edges” to create a new look and feel for your image. Backdrop, on the other hand, changes the scene or background of your image based on prompts like “sublime aurora borealis” or “surrounded by puppies.” Importantly, we’ve made sure to indicate the use of AI in these generated images to ensure transparency and reduce the chances of them being mistaken for human-generated content.
Another exciting addition is Meta AI, an assistant that spans our apps and devices. Available on WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and soon on Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and Quest 3, Meta AI can be interacted with like a person. Powered by a custom model that combines technology from Llama 2 and our latest large language model (LLM) research, Meta AI can provide real-time information through our search partnership with Bing and even generate images. Imagine you and your friends discussing which trailhead to try in Santa Cruz in a group chat. Meta AI can surface options directly in the chat, allowing you to decide as a group which location to explore. After the hike, if you want a creative way to commemorate the day, Meta AI can help you create a digital merit badge by typing “@MetaAI /imagine” followed by a descriptive text prompt like “create a button badge with a hiker and redwood trees.”
Furthermore, we’ve developed a universe of characters that you can interact with on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. These 28 unique AIs, representing a new cast of characters, are designed to have more personality, opinions, and interests, making them more fun to engage with. To make the experience even more immersive, we’ve partnered with cultural icons and influencers who embody these AIs, giving them profiles on Instagram and Facebook. From dance enthusiast Coco played by Charli D’Amelio to pro golfer Perry played by Chris Paul, each AI has its own backstory and brings a different element to conversations.
It’s important to note that our AIs are still in the early stages, and their knowledge base is limited to pre-2023 information, apart from Meta AI, Bru, and Perry. However, we’re continuously improving and evolving their capabilities based on user feedback and interactions. We’re also committed to building responsibly and ensuring safety is a priority.
Looking ahead, we’re excited to launch AI studio, a platform that supports the creation of AIs. This will be made available for people outside of Meta, including coders and non-coders, to build their own AIs. Developers will be able to use our APIs to build third-party AIs for our messaging services, starting with Messenger and expanding to WhatsApp. Businesses will also have the opportunity to create AIs that align with their brand values and improve customer service experiences. For creators, they’ll be able to build AIs that extend their virtual presence across our apps.
As the universe of AIs continues to grow and evolve, we’re also working on a sandbox that will enable anyone to experiment with creating their own AI. In the future, we’ll bring this sandbox to the metaverse, providing an even greater level of realism, embodiment, and connectedness for building AIs.
AI is transforming the way we connect, communicate, and express ourselves. With new AI experiences and features, we’re empowering users to unleash their creativity, enhance their connections, and explore new realms of expression. The possibilities are endless, and we’re committed to continuously improving and expanding these AI capabilities to deliver an exceptional user experience.