Real-time image creation
AI images directly in the chat: With this innovation, Whatsapp is running away from the competition
Whatsapp can now create AI content directly in the chat – in real time. The image changes as you type
© Meta / PR
When you think about using AI, it’s probably not about messengers like Whatsapp. Its parent company Meta urgently wants to change that. One of the new functions is really impressive.
With the introduction of ChatGPT, AI has entered the mainstream with full force. And even though half the world uses meta apps like Uses Whatsapp or Instagram – as an AI heavyweight, very few people have the company on their list. Meta now urgently wants to change that. And is now bringing its smart AI functions in its messengers to billions of smartphones.
Whether WhatsApp or the messengers from Facebook and Instagram: All of Meta’s chat tools will soon be equipped with tons of AI functions, the company recently announced in a blog post. The most exciting innovation: WhatsApp and Co. can now generate AI images directly in the chat – and change them in real time.
Whatsapp: Quick image creation directly in the chat
This looks really impressive in the example gif: a person types “Imagine a soccer game on Mars” into the chat line – and the image is already building up. The spectacular thing: the first image appears after the first few characters, it changes with each subsequent input until it finally shows the result. So far, creating AI content sometimes takes a few minutes. Particularly impressive: The AI called Meta AI generated a second alternative image in the background, which it also offers at the end.
You can also create the popular gifs directly in the chat. If you ask the AI to animate the image created in this way, it can do that too. Of course, it doesn’t work as quickly as when the image was first created.
Assistants in Messenger
The innovation is just part of a larger offensive. “I think that most people don’t think of meta yet when it comes to AI,” explains Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg to “The Verge”. “But now is the right moment to change that. And I expect it to be a pretty important product for us.”
In addition to the image tool, Meta has also rolled out a new variant of its voice AI, LLama-3, which is intended to compete with ChatGPT. Meta AI can be used directly in the chat for questions or writing tasks. You can either chat with the bot alone or bring it in as a conversation partner in an existing chat with a human. Good: The bot’s answers are then clearly recognizable as such. In the example, a chat participant in an ongoing conversation asks the AI which park they could go to and immediately receives suggestions.
The innovations have already been activated in beta versions of the meta apps and will soon also be available on the websites. Unfortunately, the new functions are not coming to Germany for the time being: LLama-3, the language model used by the AI bot, and image creation will initially only be available in a dozen or so English-speaking countries, such as Australia, Ghana, Jamaica and South Africa. The rest of the world and other languages will soon follow, promises Zuckerberg.
Meta relies on AI
The fact that Meta relies so much on AI is only surprising at first glance. AI assistants are considered the next big thing and have the potential to completely transform the internet as we know it. Although a start-up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT generates the greatest hype, Meta has the great advantage of the crowd: the Facebook parent company’s apps are among the most installed apps worldwide – regardless of the operating system.
The strategy of integrating new hype technologies into its own apps was one of the most important recipes for success for Meta. The stories were taken over from Snapchat and the Reels from Tiktok. And thus ensured that its own offerings remained relevant and continued to grow despite strong competition.
“Our goal,” explains Zuckerberg, “is to compete with everything on the market. And to become the world’s leading AI.”