Meta introduced a list of its new AI-based features for its 2023 Connect conference, led by the company's AI chat assistant tool, which integrates a chat bot similar to ChatGPT into all of its applications.

In addition, there are various personalities based on celebrity voices so that this feature can gain more recognition and increase engagement.

There's loads to dig into and look at. Here's a digest of all the key updates Meta announced at Connect day one.

AI Chatbots

First off, as stated, the big announcement for the day, which hopes to be Meta's stride into generative AI is its new AI assistant. 
As Meta explains:

Meta AI is a new companion you can talk to the way you talk to anyone else, coming to WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram; soon to Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and Quest 3. It uses a custom model based on Llama 2 tech and our newest LLM research. Meta AI within text-based conversations is able to see real-time information directly via our search integration with Bing and offers an image generation feature.

Partners with Bing? Unusual.

In another independent post, Microsoft clarified it will share data from Bing with Meta AI:

"Very excited to announce that we have begun working with Meta to include Bing in the meta AI chat experiences, bringing fresher answers with real-time search information. The integration does not only go to meta AI but also some of Meta's other AIs that are available to message with inside WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram."

So real-time information for fuelling Meta's AI response. Wonder what Microsoft's getting in return?

As you can see in the example above, it will work just like what you would expect; it can ask questions, and provide instant answers to queries directly in-stream.

Which, pretty much lines up with the latest wave of AI chatbots, although it's also worth noting that Meta tried the same thing way back in 2015.
This was Meta's first chat assistant tool, designed as "M," or direct answers and prompts in-stream, ushering in this new age of chatbots on Messenger.

Except that it had problems, wherein the bot sometimes produced replies that were questionable, making it have to be extremely monitored by actual humans if it was going to stay on the right track.

Meta eventually ended the "M" experiment in 2018, citing high maintenance and low usage as its reasons, with the latter becoming a more pressing concern to Meta at this stage because it tries the same again.
Of course, the new "M", which isn't called "M," but is pretty much the same thing, will run on Meta's more advanced AI, which should make it more valuable. But will users be more receptive to such the second time around?

Meta's not taking any chances, which is why it's also giving its new chatbot celebrity voices to enhance the experience.
The new chatbot experience will be able to talk to you in the communications style of any of these celebrities, which Meta is hoping will make it a more engaging and entertaining experience.

In total, 28 characters will be available via Meta's AI chatbot, though more are on the way, such as bots in the style of Bear Grylls, Chloe Kim, and Josh Richards, to name a few.
Will that be something that makes it even a bigger hit this time round?

Personally, my view is no, because now that I think about it, looks more of a gimmick, which will grab a lot of initial attention without a doubt, but once that is over people stop paying attention. Though the difference may be in completely other characters, in differing ways, which can give users what they want to know in any case, and even have extra personalities to add within upcoming apps, that way making more people interested and connected with AI bots in each different type of app.

We will soon know, as Meta's new AI chatbots are rolling out in beta testing with selected U.S. users from today.

AI Tools on IG

AI image editing is also coming to Instagram, with a new feature that'll essentially add new AI-driven filters for your posts. So rather than just adding a regular image filter, the new AI editing tools will enable you to recreate your uploads in a completely different style.

"Restyle lets you reimagine your images by applying the visual styles you describe. Think of typing a descriptor like "watercolor" or a more detailed prompt like "collage from magazines and newspapers, torn edges" to describe the new look and feel of the image you want to create."

It is likely that this can establish a different kind of flow of visual trends across the app; simple prompts triggering new movements, now done through artistic prompts, because based on them. Even further, it can use its effect in customizing or specific theme-related visuals such as with prompt reuse on all successive upload by setting the prompt right
Even the second AI itself, could come out much handy for similar applications.

"Backdrop changes the scene or background of your image. Prompts like "put me in front of a sublime aurora borealis" or "surrounded by puppies" will cue the tool to create an image of the primary subject in the foreground with the background you described."
That could be useful for product photography, or branded model shots and examples where brands can create a cohesive scene they can use in all their IG uploads.
It is going to become a nice addition, and there is going to be much experimenting and interest, likely.
Generative AI Stickers

Meta's also announces new AI stickers, which will help users to create custom digital stickers for chats and stories.
Now, Meta claims you can use simple text prompts, besides WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and even from Facebook Stories, for a cartoonish sticker you will be able to attach to your conversations.
How Meta describes it
"Our AI tool uses technology from Llama 2 and our foundational model for image generation called Emu to turn your text prompts into multiple unique, high-quality stickers in seconds.".

They're not much of an innovation, to say the least. Still, Meta says billions of stickers are sent between its apps every month. This makes them a rather promising tool for many people.
AI stickers will become available, Meta says, for a subset of users using the English language, during the course of the next month.
End

Yet another new launch is the AI studio of Meta, which will allow people to build their own AI engagement systems, based upon their respective communication style and voice.

"In the coming weeks, developers will be able to build third-party AIs for our messaging services with our APIs starting with Messenger then WhatsApp. Businesses will also be able to create AIs that reflect their brand's values and improve customer service experiences."

Depending on the type of data inputs required for such, this may be an effortless way to implement AI chatbots in your business interaction process, which would be a great engagement option especially if more consumers get accustomed to communicating with these new bot tools.

Ray-Ban Stories V.2

Meta also revealed a new version of its Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses with improved hardware and battery life.
Also this:

"You can now livestream from the glasses to Facebook or Instagram.  And you can see the comments in your preview, or tap and hold on the side of your glasses to hear them out loud to engage with your community as you're living in the moment."

That is a huge addition that can make the device an online creator's best option.

The new Ray-Ban Stories sunglasses will start at $US299 and are available to preorder starting today on meta.com and ray-ban.com. They'll hit Meta.com and Ray-Ban.com, as well as be available in stores Oct. 17.
Quest 3

And finally, Meta showcased the company's latest VR product, the Quest 3 head set.
The new Quest 3, its most advanced VR unit yet, will be available to users from Oct. 10, with Meta hoping that it'll be featured prominently on many Christmas wish lists.

Meta's shared a range of insights into the Quest 3 already, with the new headset to facilitate both VR and mixed reality experiences.

Meta Quest 3 has breakthrough mixed reality that lets you experience a spectrum of experiences. You can play a virtual piano on your coffee table or open a portal to another dimension right in your living room — all while high-fidelity, full-color Passthrough keeps your physical surroundings in sight with over 10 times more pixels compared to Meta Quest 2.

Meta hopes this new unit will be the standard for VR experiences, which will also help guide users toward its next-level metaverse environment.
The Quest 3 starts at $US499.99 for the 128GB version, and $US649.99 for the 512GB model.

Besides this, Meta also dropped some brief notes on its upcoming Meta Quest for Business platform, which will help users integrate all sorts of enterprise applications, including tools from Microsoft 365, into a virtual office space. Meta hasn't provided much information on this, but it will present another angle in its bigger VR push. Meta started developing professional VR usage options way back in 2020.

A heap of updates with a range of implications and Meta is making an aggressive push on generative AI, which has indeed been due for some time, but whether this new AI element will go down with the users would be a big test to its expanded efforts on the front.