Meta plans launch of AI bots with different personas in attempt to retain users - report
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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) plans to launch a range of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots which exude different personalities as soon as September, in an attempt to bolster engagement with its social media platforms.
The company has been designing prototypes for chatbots which can have humanlike talks with its users, the report added citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The chatbots take the form of different characters. The tech giant is exploring a chatbot which talks like Abraham Lincoln and another that advises on travel options in the style of a surfer, the report noted.
The move comes amid Meta trying to focus on retaining users of its Twitter-rival text app Threads, as the platform lost more than half its users in the weeks following its launch on July 5.
Rival tech companies have already launched chatbots which feature personalities. Start-up Character.ai, valued at $1B, uses large language models (LLMs) to generate conversation in the style of personalities such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nintendo character Mario, to name a few, according to the report.
Last week, Meta reported strong Q2 earnings echoed an online advertising recovery.
Generative AI services have taken the world by storm, since the launch of Microsoft (MSFT)-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT. The different types of LLMs, which can provide services such as content and image generation, to name a few, are being used globally.
Companies around the world have launched their own LLMs â Baidu's (BIDU) Ernie Bot, Alibaba's (BABA) Tongyi Qianwen and Tongyi Wanxiang, Google's (GOOG) (GOOGL) Bard, OpenAI's DALL-E, Midjourney Inc.'s Midjourney, are some of them.
However, the potential risks posed by the new technology have also not gone unnoticed. The U.N. Security Council held its first formal meeting on the risks linked to the use of AI in July. Several companies â including giants Amazon (AMZN), Google, Meta and Microsoft â have made voluntary commitments to the White House to implement certain measures for the safe use of AI.
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