Major WhatsApp update

  WhatsApp update brings new image generation tools from Meta AI         

Artificial intelligence image editing lets users add tattoos or different haircuts to their pictures. WhatsApp is integrating features from Meta AI like image editing. A major new WhatsApp update will see several highly-anticipated AI features soon roll out to its billions of users. The update forms part of WhatsApp’s integration of Meta AI, which aims to offer artificial intelligence capabilities that are similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT within Meta’s suite of apps. One of the biggest changes to the messaging app will be the introduction of personalised image generation, which uses generative AI to create or modify pictures from simple text prompts. Following are the some of the important points:-

Meta AI offers ChatGPT-like capabilities within Meta apps for easy access without leaving the platform.

The AI can create images based on simple prompts, but refinement may require repeating the process with additional input.

New features include image editing and personalized image generation, with more countries gaining access.

AI has been the buzzword of the consumer tech space for a couple of years now and every major tech company has a finger in the pie. Meta is no different, building the rather unimaginatively-named Meta AI into a Google Gemini-like chatbot with typical capabilities such as immediate search results, contextual replies and image generation, but all within the confines of Meta’s social media platforms, including the world’s most widely used chat app, WhatsApp. Well, the company announced that Meta AI is now multilingual, smarter and better at image generation.

“If you’ve ever wondered what you might look like as a superhero, or wanted to try out different hair or outfits, you can now imagine yourself doing just about anything,” a blog post introducing the new AI features on WhatsApp stated. “Simply type ‘Imagine me’ in chats with Meta AI to get started. After a quick set up, you’ll be able to add a prompt like ‘Imagine me in a retro ping and green ski outfit’ and Meta AI will generate an image of you in that personalised scene.” WhatsApp’s new AI tools allows users to create images by typing ‘imagine me’ in chats

Meta AI is designed to offer ChatGPT and Gemini-rivaling capabilities directly within Meta apps, so users don’t need to exit the social media platforms to use AI for an answer or other assistance. In WhatsApp, users can simply append @MetaAI before their query or prompt, and the AI will respond in the chat, like a participant tagged in a conversation. You can also hop into a chat with Meta AI on WhatsApp, like you would in the ChatGPT app, for more detailed conversations where you could benefit from longer context windows.

The latest update is currently only available for English-speaking beta users in the US, though WhatsApp plans to roll it out to more languages and countries “soon”. Some artificial intelligence features are already available within newer versions of WhatsApp following previous integrations of Meta AI, including the ability to chat with an AI bot. A broader update to Meta’s AI tool saw it expand the current capabilities of the assistant, making it available in seven additional languages across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. WhatsApp just shared that Meta AI is receiving an update, unlocking new features like image editing and AI-powered restyled shots of yourself, and bringing the service to a few more regions worldwide. Features and geographic availability continue to expand.

Currently, image creation works exactly like you would expect it to, You provide a simple prompt and Meta AI spits out one result, but unlike some purpose-built image generators which offer choices. However, you’ll need to run the entire prompt again with additional input for any sort of refinement. Now, you can just start a prompt with “imagine…” in the chat with Meta AI and go on to describe the image you want. You can then ask the AI to add, remove, or animate elements of the generated image by replying to it. In my limited testing, replying with a request for one edit made the AI generate a new image altogether, even when I used specific keywords WhatsApp used in the announcement, such as “add, subtract” etc. It retained context, and you’ll see in the screenshots below that both images are of happy dogs at weddings, but the AI failed to edit the original image. 

The other new feature is called Imagine Yourself, which we caught wind of in July. Here, you need to first type “Imagine me” in the chat with Meta AI, go through a quick onboarding of sorts to help the uAI understand what you look like, so you can then follow up with creative prompts like “imagine me in Aviator shades and a white hat” to see what AI thinks you will look like in those settings. For now, WhatsApp has rolled out Imagine Yourself as a beta test in the US only. Attempts to imagine me in other countries created random images of people. Both the above-mentioned features are also available on other Meta properties such as Messenger and Facebook. Speaking of countries, though, Meta AI is now available in 22 countries in toto, now including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Cameroon. You can also interact in a language you prefer, because the supported ones are French, German, Hindi, Hindi-Romanized Script, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

While you should temper your expectations of early-stage text-to-image models, Meta AI might just make it easier to decide your next outfit or convert imagination into pictures with minimal effort. The AI will be powered by Meta’s new Llama 405B, which comes with improved reasoning capabilities which make it more useful for topics like mathematics and coding. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the new Llama AI model will be open source in order to make it “good for the world”, bucking the industry trend set by OpenAI. “I believe that open source is necessary for a positive AI future. AI has more potential than any other modern technology to increase human productivity, creativity, and quality of life – and to accelerate economic growth while unlocking progress in medical and scientific research,” the tech boss wrote in a blog post explaining the decision. “Open source will ensure that more people around the world have access to the benefits and opportunities of AI, that power isn’t concentrated in the hands of a small number of companies, and that the technology can be deployed more evenly and safely across society.”