This article briefly explains what the Meta AI Assistant is and how it compares to other chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini. It also provides tips on how to use it.
Meta AI is a free conversational artificial intelligence assistant for apps like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. You can also find it in hardware like the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and Quest VR headset, as well as in standalone versions on the web.
You'll find Meta AI as part of the search bar in the aforementioned suite of apps. You can use the bar to search as before, or start a conversation with Meta AI for real-time information, image generation, and more.
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If you don't see Meta AI in the app you're using, check for updates.
Meta AI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory owned by Meta Platforms Inc. It was founded in 2015 as Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) and later changed its name to Meta Platforms, Inc when Facebook, Inc. changed its name to Meta Platforms, Inc. The team behind the chatbot includes researchers and engineers working in machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing and other artificial intelligence research areas.
Meta AI's unique language model is called Llama 3; it is open source and available for free. The company positions it as a competitor to ChatGPT and Google Gemini, with features custom-designed for the popular apps you use.
Meta AI is similar to generative multimodal chatbots such as ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini. But uniquely, it can also work with Google and Bing for real-time search.
Meta AI works across feeds, chats, and searches across all of the company’s social platforms. It can be used as a simple productivity app to get work done; as a search engine for finding answers and advice; or use image generation prompts to generate images, stickers, and animated GIFs. All messages are end-to-end encrypted.
The chatbot also combines Meta AI with video and image generation model Emu. You can easily generate images directly in messages or group chats based on prompts. For example, Emu's feature lets you take a photo and change its visual style or background with a few prompts.
It runs on Llama 3 and can handle complex tasks such as translation and dialogue. Language models are powerful and can easily manage many steps. The latest version's improved training methods make it better at giving more accurate and more diverse answers. Developers claim it also has better abilities at reasoning, creating code, and following instructions.
If you live in the United States or any supported country, you can use Meta AI on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and the web.
Meta AI is easy to use as a conversational chatbot. Here’s an example from Instagram:
You're planning a trip to the beach with your friends in an Instagram group chat. Find the perfect beach for everyone using the search field and Meta AI's automatic suggestions. At the end of the day, describe your beach day using keywords (surfboards, palm trees, etc.) and ask it to draw an image. Meta AI created a memorable photo of the entire group in the chat.
In addition to Meta AI, there are 28 artificial intelligence "personas" who have unique personas and even social profiles on Facebook and Instagram. Some of them are digital avatars of cultural icons you know, like Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady, Kendall Jenner and Naomi Osaka. Meta AI generates their text posts, with images from Emu.
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Because it is open source, Meta AI's frameworks, tools, libraries, datasets, and models are also available to everyone for use in artificial intelligence research and application development.
