Meta wants to flood social media with AI

Over the past year, Meta has developed and promoted several new AI tools on Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. The company introduced AI chatbots to its Messenger app and launched AI tools for character creation in July. According to Connor Hayes, vice president of product for generative AI at Meta, hundreds of thousands of characters have already been created.

The vast majority of these characters created by AI remain private for the moment. But Meta expects them to become widespread across all platforms in the coming years.

Hayes told the Financial Times in an interview that Meta expects personas to actually exist across platforms over time, much in the same way that accounts do. They will have bios and profile photos, and will be able to share AI-generated content on the platform.

According to Hayes, investing in AI will remain a priority for Meta over the next two years. Indeed, the company aims to provide more entertainment and engagement to users. On Facebook, users already have access to AI tools to edit photos and create AI assistants that can respond to fan posts.

The Financial Times article adds that Meta is also planning a new text-to-video conversion tool for content creators, which will allow users to add to AI-generated videos.

A Meta spokesperson told Fox Business that the tool would allow users to create video characters based on the user’s interests using AI. These are designed to both entertain and provide support. For example, users can create AI characters that teach others how to cook, give fashion advice, or share makeup tips.

Critics see risks

Although Meta clearly labels all AI-generated content on its platforms, critics tell SiliconAngle there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about the proliferation of largely unverified AI users and AI-generated content. AI on social networks.

These concerns include the risk of political manipulation. And platforms flooded with poor quality content. But there is also a risk of more serious harm. For example, a mother recently filed a lawsuit against AI company Character Technologies, alleging that one of its chatbots encouraged her 14-year-old son to commit suicide.

Without strong safeguards, platforms risk reinforcing the false narratives of these AI-driven accounts. Becky Owen, former head of creator innovations at Meta, said this in the Financial Times.

Owen also warned of the risk of low-quality content diluting the brand of social media platforms. Unlike human creators, these AI characters don’t have life experiences, emotions or the same capacity for relatability, she warned.

Nonetheless, Meta appears determined to continue its plan to flood social media with AI, if only to get a return on the billions of dollars it has already invested in the technology.

In April, Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said it could be years before the company sees any profit. According to the Facebook founder, investing in creating these new experiences at scale in apps has always been a good long-term investment. And he says the first signs are also positive.

Building cutting-edge AI, however, will be a bigger undertaking than previous innovations, he says.