Meta has announced its big push in AI and other ventures that aim to secure its future.
Meta’s collaboration with RayBan, new advanced avatars in the Metaverse, and Llama/Meta AI are big developments for a company that has been under scrutiny by the government and political actors. CNBC reports:
Zuckerberg showed off the AI software as well as the company’s new Quest 3 virtual reality headset and latest Ray-Ban smart glasses on Wednesday at Meta’s Connect conference for VR developers at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
Users of Facebook’s various chatting apps like WhatsApp and Messenger will soon be able to share digital stickers that can be automatically created via written prompts, capitalizing on the popularity of technology like ChatGPT.
More than other Big Tech firms, Meta leans heavily on younger users for social media consumption. This makes them particularly at risk of losing market share to competitors ByteDance (TikTok) and Snap (Snapchat).
That was made clear on Wednesday, when the tech giant unveiled a wide range of artificial intelligence features, from chatbots with personality to AI-generated stickers. In addition to Meta’s conversation assistant, Meta AI, users will be able to interact with AI personalities based on celebrities such as Tom Brady, Naomi Osaka, Snoop Dogg, and Kendall Jenner, and generate customized stickers.
Meta has made plays directed at Gen Z before. Reels, for instance, are played 200 billion times daily, according to Insider Intelligence. But this would be Meta’s first AI-forward outreach to the demographic, and experts are divided about the extent to which the play will work.
Meta’s gamble on AI will probably pay off. Its deep trove of data it collects on users can help train its software. The smart glasses might not pay off as much, and while the Metaverse avatars are more realistic, virtual reality might not be as popular with the general public.
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