WhatsApp looks set for one of the biggest updates it has had in a very long time, with the introduction of “Meta AI”, an AI chatbot that will be built right into the messaging app. There’s no word on exactly when this feature is going to have a wide release, but the company is already testing it in different countries, including the US and India, for both the iOS and Android applications, and we know this thanks to WABetaInfo.
Whether you’re part of the users who get the chance to test this feature out is just down to luck, but as long as you’re on the latest version of the app in a supported country and the app language is set to English, you seem to be eligible to test things out.
Meta AI can be accessed via the search bar near the top of the screen, but apparently, some users also see a button at the top of the screen that also allows you to access Meta AI. It works the same way that every single AI chatbot does. You can ask it random questions and it will answer you in the WhatsApp messaging UI.
Just to be clear, while Meta AI now shares the search bar, you can still conduct searches the way you would normally, and what you write isn’t shared with the AI model until you specifically ask it to respond. Of course, people have always had their doubts about the privacy of their personal info under the watch of Meta.
Will Every App Under The Sun Eventually Find A Way To Cram AI Into The Mix?
Look, I’ve been a lover of technology since I was a kid and I love seeing new cool things take the spotlight, but I don’t like gimmicks. AI isn’t a gimmick — it’s way too advanced and cool to be considered that. However, a lot of the ways it is being used seem gimmicky.
For instance, I get that AI chatbots have been popping up everywhere since ChatGPT made them popular, but do you really need one in WhatsApp? Does Google Messages need one? Does Snapchat need one? It would be great to have one app on your phone that can handle AI chatbot duties, but none of these tech giants want to leave money on the table (and from a strictly business perspective, that makes sense).
It’s exactly because of that I personally don’t see an end in sight. I’m sure 2024 still has a few more AI integrations left for us to see.
