According to a report from the Financial Times, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is planning to release artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots with human-like personalities as part of its user retention efforts. The company has been working on prototypes of these chatbots, and the final products will be able to engage in discussions with users at a human level. It is expected that the range of chatbots will be released as early as next month, with each bot displaying a different personality.
Sources close to the matter have revealed that Meta staffers are calling these chatbots “personas” as they take on the form of various characters. For example, one bot has been designed to speak like former US president Abraham Lincoln, while another provides travel advice in a surfer’s language. The purpose of these chatbots, according to the sources, is to offer recommendations, improve search functionality, and provide a fun product for users to interact with.
In response to the report, Cointelegraph reached out to Meta for further comment but did not receive a response. It is worth noting that the company may implement automated checks on the chatbots’ outputs to ensure accuracy and prevent any rule-breaking speech.
The development of these AI chatbots comes as Meta has been focusing on user retention. During their second-quarter earnings call in July, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted the company’s latest product, Threads, and expressed optimism about seeing more users returning on a daily basis than initially anticipated. He also emphasized that Meta’s primary focus was on Threads’ user retention and disclosed an additional $3.7 billion investment in metaverse development.
However, the introduction of these chatbots also raises concerns about privacy and data collection. OpenAI, the creator of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, is currently facing a class-action lawsuit over alleged data theft through its own bots. With the implementation of accessible chatbots, there is potential for Meta to collect significant amounts of user data, which could raise similar privacy concerns.
In conclusion, Meta’s plans to release AI chatbots with human-like personalities aim to enhance user engagement and retention. These chatbots will be capable of engaging in human-level conversations and will offer different personalities for users to interact with. While the exact details of their release and functionality remain undisclosed, it is expected that they will provide recommendations, improve search functionality, and serve as an entertaining feature for users. However, the implementation of these chatbots also raises concerns about privacy and data collection, given recent controversies surrounding AI chatbot developers.
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