Meta (formerly Facebook) has been on a launch spree lately. The US-based technology company recently unveiled a slew of new AI tools designed to improve user experience across its products.
As part of its plan to create the metaverse, Meta invested a considerable amount of money in generative AI technology. In October, the tech giant said it would start rolling out generative AI tools for all advertisers as well.
Aside from this, the company released its large language model LlaMA as open-source. Earlier this year, Meta teamed up with Microsoft to unveil the successor to the first major open-source LLM dubbed Llama 2. Notably, the company has been commercialising this research over the past year.
As a result, Meta will be embedding generative AI across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. These AI-powered tools and products will be made available in business messaging, ads, social discovery, search and more.
Most of these tools are built on the Meta AI virtual assistant and are capable of carrying out various tasks like answering questions, generating photorealistic images and being built into other Meta-owned products.
You can ask it to make something simply by typing @MetaAI in a group chat inside WhatsApp, Instagram messages or Messenger. Meta has also launched a standalone product called Imagine, which is a Stable Diffusion, DALL-E and Midjourney-like image generator.
In addition to Imagine, Meta has announced a flurry of new generative AI services and features, which are mostly built into the company’s existing products. Let’s take a look at some of these recently unveiled features.
Imagine with Meta AI
In a new blog post published on Meta’s official website, the company described Imagine as its “text-to-image generation feature” that can “make fun and creative content in chats”.
Building on our longstanding investments in exploratory AI research and open access to AI is part of what enables us to bring technology from the lab to product faster — for example, the Emu technology behind Imagine or new automatic red teaming research which will eventually… https://t.co/0H54hYhZjC
— AI at Meta (@AIatMeta) December 6, 2023
Meta has now expanded access to Imagine outside of chats, making it available at imagine.meta.com for US-based users. Creative hobbyists can create images using this tool, which adopts technology from Meta’s image foundation model called Emu.
Collaborate on images
Meta has added a new feature called reimagine to Meta AI on Messenger and Instagram. While one user can generate an image using MetaAI in a group chat as usual, another user will be able to press and hold on to the picture to riff on it with a simple text prompt and an entirely new image will be generated.
For example, one user can generate a picture of a Goldfish, the second user can put the fish in a bowl and another can add plants, rocks and hiding places in the bowl.
Improved user experience on Facebook
Facebook messaging capabilities will be updated with new generative AI features. You can now create the perfect birthday greeting to share with your friends.
First, you need to draft a basic post. The next step involves updating the details with input from MetaAI. You will be able to create and share generative images within a post as well.
Converting images for Stories
Meta’s latest announcement also sheds light on an interesting feature that allows you to convert a landscape image into a portrait and back.
While you can do this using any image editor, there’s a risk of cropping the image and cutting the details. Meta, on the other hand, analyses the image using generative AI and extends it out or sideways to fill in the missing details.
Instagram Reels in Meta AI
The Mark Zuckerberg-owned multinational technology company is rolling out Reels in Meta AI chats. Meta AI can come in handy for planning a vacation, offering new ideas for a gift, or working up ideas for home decoration.
For example, if you are planning a trip to India with friends in a group chat, Meta AI can be used to recommend the best places to visit. Moreover, you can share Reels of the top sites to help you decide which places are must-sees.
