In an attempt to gauge how keen its billions of users would be to adopt artificial intelligence, Meta on Wednesday unveiled AI chatbots with voices provided by Hollywood heavyweights like Judi Dench and John Cena.
At Meta's annual product announcement event, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg stated, "I think that voice has the potential to be one of, if not the most frequent ways, that we all interact with AI." He declared, "It is just a lot better."
The implementation takes place months after OpenAI debuted a voice preview of ChatGPT, which caused controversy because to its voice resemblance to actress Scarlett Johansson.
The celebrities that appear in Meta's new voice tool have given their OK, and it will be accessible on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. However, due to worries regarding compliance with EU data protection rules and possible fines, Meta AI will not be available in Europe.
The vast user bases of Meta's platforms provide the information and data that the AI uses, an activity that is subject to multiple regulations and protections in Europe.
Like ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini, Meta AI is an AI assistant that answers questions, creates images, writes messages and even provides companionship.
This new version improves upon the first release that was made public a year ago. According to Meta, more than 400 million individuals use Meta AI at least once a month, and by the end of the year, the firm hopes to make it "the most widely used AI assistant." However, detractors point out that since MetaAI has taken the place of the search feature on apps like WhatsApp, many people unintentionally come across it.
Since ChatGPT’s breakthrough, major tech companies have been rapidly developing AI applications capable of producing high-quality content from simple queries.
Apple's entry into the market with its AI-capable iPhones and Google and Microsoft's early advantage in productivity features make for intense competition. These models, however, have a huge impact on firm resources since they require a large amount of energy, technical infrastructure, and qualified engineers.
According to Meta, its improved assistant speaks more naturally, can communicate vocally, and can interpret visual cues. It can alter photos based on straightforward customer queries or recommend recipes from food photos, just like other chatbots.
Meta's share price has increased by 60% since the start of the year, despite worries about excessive expenditure on AI and virtual reality. The company's profits have skyrocketed. The company's performance is dependent on its advertising campaigns.
But investors and onlookers have long expressed alarm about the social media giant's large expenditures on artificial intelligence and virtual reality technologies. Carolina Milanesi, a Creative Strategies analyst, stated that "Meta is not necessarily the first brand that comes to mind when I think about AI."
“And their biggest hurdle is going to be privacy and trust: a lot of consumers will have issues with trusting that the data is not being used for other reasons.”
Published at GSB Hub, September 26th, 2024
The GSB Hub published this content on 16 Oct,2024.