Despite facing regulatory hurdles in Europe, Meta is advancing its AI development plan by announcing an expansion of its Meta AI chatbot to seven additional languages, along with new creative features and the ability to select different Meta AI models for various tasks.

This move paves the way for future AI interactions, but let’s break down the details first.

Meta is extending access to its AI chatbot to seven new regions: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Cameroon. Additionally, users can now interact with the bot in seven new languages: French, German, Hindi, Hindi-Romanized Script, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

While Meta's built-in AI bot has received mixed feedback, CEO Mark Zuckerberg claims it is on track to become the most widely used AI assistant globally. This isn't entirely surprising, considering that half of the connected world utilizes Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, with the AI features prominently displayed when users open each app. Thus, the bot's presence might reflect more of its ubiquity rather than its popularity or utility. Nonetheless, Zuckerberg views this as a sign that the company's AI initiatives are heading in the right direction.

With this expansion, millions more users will see the Meta AI prompt when they access the apps—ushering in a new era of AI interaction.

Moreover, Meta is enhancing the chatbot’s functionality, allowing users to generate AI images of themselves directly from the chat stream.

As Meta explains:

“Have you ever dreamed of being a superhero, a rockstar, or a professional athlete? Now, you can see yourself in a whole new light with the 'Imagine me' prompts in Meta AI—a feature we're beginning to roll out in beta in the US. Imagine yourself generates images based on a photo of you and a prompt like 'Imagine me surfing' or 'Imagine me on a beach vacation' using our advanced personalization model.”

This functionality is similar to Snapchat’s “Dreams” feature, allowing users to create whimsical images of themselves. Like “Dreams,” the novelty may fade quickly, but it could still encourage more users to experiment with Meta’s AI tools.

Additionally, Meta is introducing new editing tools for generative AI images, allowing users to customize their creations directly within the chat stream.

Meta states that the process will allow users to easily add or remove objects and modify or edit them, all while preserving the integrity of the main image.

“You could say, ‘Imagine a cat snorkeling in a goldfish bowl,’ and then decide you want it to be a corgi. You would simply write, ‘Change the cat to a corgi’ to adjust the image. Next month, you’ll also see the addition of an Edit with AI button that allows you to fine-tune your imagined images even further.”

This feature could be quite useful, as one of the major challenges with AI-generated images is the difficulty in refining and correcting them when they don’t meet your expectations. Depending on how effectively this works, it could significantly enhance the value of AI art within Meta’s apps.

However, there are aspects of this that I’m not as enthusiastic about:

Meta is also allowing users to incorporate AI-generated images into their Facebook posts. While this feature isn't inherently negative, it raises questions, especially when it comes to creating fake images of real places you've visited.

My primary concern with Meta's increasing integration of AI content is that it may dilute, or even replace, the human element—the genuine "social" aspects of "social media." For years, users have expressed dissatisfaction with bot-generated content in social apps, claiming it detracts from the authentic connective experience. Now, we’re being encouraged to utilize bots ourselves.

Is this truly beneficial? Is this what we want from our interactive communities?

I understand that these features can enhance creative possibilities in novel ways, but I’m not convinced this is the right direction.

Additionally, Meta is introducing a new option that allows users to select which AI model they want to use for various tasks within the app.

This option is a bit more technical, but the idea is that by allowing users to access different Llama models, they can pose more complex and technical queries—particularly in math and coding. While most users will likely opt for the most powerful model, the fact that this isn’t a straightforward choice (as it requires navigating to AI model settings) may limit its overall usage.

Additionally, Meta is rolling out Meta AI in VR in beta for selected users in North America. 

“Meta AI will replace the current Voice Commands on Quest, enabling hands-free control of your headset, providing answers to questions, delivering real-time information, checking the weather, and more.”

This is a significant update, as the true value of Meta's AI tools may lie in VR creation. Currently, VR development is constrained by the technical complexities involved in building immersive worlds, which demand considerable expertise, time, and investment.

However, if Meta could empower its AI tools to generate VR experiences based on simple text prompts, users could immerse themselves in any scenario they can imagine simply by speaking it into existence.

This represents the ultimate promise of Meta’s AI tools, which is why the company is eager to promote its AI chatbot as a way to help users get accustomed to making requests for whatever they need.

This vision is long-term, but integrating Meta AI into VR will facilitate a shift in user behavior toward this future. 

That’s also why the current developments, which may detract from the social aspects of platforms, might not be as concerning—they’re not necessarily designed with the current context in mind. While there is some utility, or at least novelty, to these features, Meta’s main goal is to establish future habits, particularly among new users, to make them more accustomed to interacting through chat prompts.

So yes, for some, Meta’s AI bot may feel a bit bothersome now, but in ten years, as we all engage in VR, this could become the primary way the next generation interacts with digital tools.