Along with other AI updates announced today, Meta AI, the company’s production AI experience, is getting new features starting today, including the ability to create new AI images on demand, as well as support for Reels, among other things. The former, a feature called “reimagine,” allows users in group chats to have fun recreating AI images with prompts, while the latter can turn to Reels as a resource as needed.
To use reimagine in a group chat, a user will first create an AI image with a prompt using Meta AI, the company’s virtual assistant that can answer questions or create images. A friend could then long-press the image to add another text message, and Meta AI would create an entirely new image, based on their changes. Friends can then go back and forth, recreating the image with multiple prompts as they try to one-up each other with even wilder ideas, Meta suggests. If successful, the feature could increase engagement time with Meta’s apps as users play with the new AI features.
Image Credits: After
The feature comes alongside today’s launch of an online AI image generator called Imagine with Meta AI, which is a free web tool for creating high-resolution AI images in seconds.
Image Credits: After
The company notes that Meta AI is also becoming more useful, offering more detailed answers on mobile devices and more accurate summaries of search results. It’s now able to respond to a wider variety of requests with useful answers, Meta says.
Another new addition is support for Reels in the Meta AI chat. This could be useful when you want to see visual examples of things that match your query. For example, if you were planning a trip with friends in a group chat, you could ask Meta AI to suggest the best places to visit and share the reels of those top locations and attractions, the company explains.
Image Credits: After
Meta says these features are rolling out today, but notes that it has several other AI tools in testing. While you may not encounter them directly, Meta says there are more than 20 new AI experiences being tested on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, including those focused on search, social discovery, advertising, business messaging And much more.
To use Meta AI, you first start a new message and select “Create AI Chat” on Meta’s messaging platforms. This is also how you can choose to interact with the Meta’s AI characters, who have their own distinct personalities. You can also access Meta AI by typing “@MetaAI” in a group chat followed by whatever you want help with, or you can say “Hey Meta” while wearing Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
Although consumers’ immediate experience with Meta AI is in the chat interface, the company points out that the AI powers other functions under the hood. For example, the large language model (LLM) technology behind Meta AI is used to provide people with options for AI-generated post comment suggestions in English and community chat topic suggestions in groups. It also serves search results and improves product copy in stores.
Image Credits: After
As part of those broader efforts, Meta says it’s testing using Meta AI to help Facebook users create birthday wishes for friends, edit their Facebook Feed posts, design intros to their Facebook Dating profiles, and help create new Facebook Groups. It’s also testing ways to create and share AI-generated images on Facebook, for example using Meta AI to convert images from landscape to portrait orientation for use in Stories.
Image Credits: After
AI will also be used to surface important conversations in Facebook Groups, to suggest topics for group conversations, and to help people learn more about products in the Marketplace or find related or alternative items. Meta AI will be used to improve search to find friends, pages, groups and Marketplace listings.
For creators, Meta AI will be used to suggest replies to DMs, based on the tone and content of the conversation.
As part of its image creation capabilities, Meta AI will soon also begin watermarking its images, the company said.
