Meta’s tremendous eager to change into a key participant within the generative AI race, which is why it’s investing billions upon billions into AI {hardware} and growth, and jamming its new AI options into all of its apps.
Which incorporates WhatsApp, the preferred messaging app on this planet, which can be notoriously tough so as to add options into, as a result of most WhatsApp are solely occupied with sending messages to their pals, and nothing else.
However Meta’s going to present it a shot both manner, with the corporate now growing a brand new AI profile picture generator for WhatsApp profiles.
As you’ll be able to see on this screenshot, posted by WABetaInfo, within the newest model of WhatsApp, there’s new code regarding an as but unreleased “Create AI Profile Image” possibility to your WhatsApp presence.
Which, because it sounds, would allow you to generate your personal AI photograph, which you’ll be able to already do by way of numerous third social gathering instruments, and it’s also possible to, at the least theoretically, create by way of Meta’s personal AI instruments.
Although including your personal picture into the Meta AI chat stream isn’t easy.
As an experiment, I attempted just a few other ways to do that, first by asking it to create an alternate model of my profile picture (it returned an image of a younger Asian man), then to create a picture of “Andrew Hutchinson” (it returned a canine chasing a Frisbee), then the “human” Andrew Hutchinson (it gave me this picture of a Victorian period gentleman sitting in his research).
It then knowledgeable me that it may’t really entry any photographs, so I may solely do that by describing by profile picture. Which, I suppose, may work, with a good bit of trial and error, form of like making a police sketch of your self by way of AI.
However once more, it’s potential, whereas Meta’s additionally experimenting with AI profile picture era particularly on Fb and IG.
Perhaps they’ll all get launched without delay, with the AI profile picture possibility accessible in all of Meta’s apps, giving billions of individuals the possibility to create hyperreal, barely off-putting depictions of themselves.
Would that be a very good factor? In all probability not, however attention-grabbing nonetheless. Doubtlessly.
The function would add to WhatsApp’s present AI parts, together with stickers which you could create from textual content prompts, and its Meta AI chatbot, which Meta believes will finally change into fashionable, regardless of detrimental preliminary suggestions.
And whereas most of those instruments are considerably attention-grabbing, as famous, most are additionally, at this stage at the least, a novelty, that’s unlikely to see ongoing use.
However AI is the factor of the second, and all the large tech gamers are satisfied that not solely will they change into transformative instruments, but additionally, that they should incorporate them to maintain up.
And whereas there are some use circumstances for generative AI which might be important, I’m nonetheless unsure that social and messaging apps want them.
Looks as if we’re going to search out out both manner.
