Meta could launch AI chatbots on Facebook and Instagram soon

It looks like every tech company is all in on artificial intelligence at the moment, and a new report suggests that Meta’s next step is right around the corner. Personas, Meta’s AI chatbots, could launch on Facebook and Instagram as early as September, bringing new features and ways to interact with the social media apps. Perhaps it’s time for Google’s Android features to bring Bard to the forefront?

As reported by the FT (via The Verge), these new features would bring recommendations to users via different personas, such as a surfer offering travel recommendations or an Abraham Lincoln impersonator on hand to help out. It all sounds quite cartoony on paper, but it is a big first step for Meta, a company notably behind other tech giants as AI takes over every conversation.

So, while Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership makes most of the headlines with ChatGPT, as Google’s competitor Bard takes shape, and we even hear rumblings of Apple’s AI plans, it’s a good time for Meta to jump in. Still, it’s hard to imagine these ‘personas’ being anywhere near as impressive as ChatGPT, but that might not matter too much, given they’ll be within two massive social media apps.

We’ll have to wait and see what Meta’s AI chatbots can do – and whether anyone actually wants to use them. Could this turn things around for Facebook? Who knows – the site’s last YouTube video is from a whole year ago, which always strikes as a bit odd.

Anyway, there’s some Meta AI chatbot news for you. For more, check out our guide to iPhone vs. Android to pick the best phone to chat to Abraham Lincoln on as you scroll through Instagram looking for a good stovepipe style.