In September, Meta announced its intention to launch a chatbot equipped with artificial intelligence on the messaging platform, and we now know what form access to this new AI will take.
WhatsApp has started rolling out the latest beta version of its Android application – version 2.23.24.26. Currently available for download in the Google Play Store, the new update appears to feature a new shortcut for the AI assistantaccording to always very reliable information from WABetaInfo.
As a reminder, Meta announced during Meta Connect 2023 that WhatsApp would be equipped with an AI-powered chatbot. This will also eventually be available on Messenger and Instagram, and is presented as an assistant capable of helping you carry out various tasks on Meta’s flagship services.
Meta AI is coming to WhatsApp very soon
According to WABetaInfo, Meta has placed a new “AI” button in the Chats tab, above the green “Start New Chat” icon. Previously, as WABetaInfo points out, this feature was hidden somewhere in the user’s contact list.
This button displays a circular icon reminiscent of Microsoft’s old Cortana icon. When pressed, this button quickly opens all your AI chats. The new button placement should allow users to quickly test the functionality, as it is now unmissable on the interface.
As is often the case, WABetaInfo specifies that the feature is only available to a small number of Android users who have downloaded the latest beta version. However, WhatsApp will roll out this feature to more users in the coming weeks.
As a reminder, the company would rely heavily on the Llama 2 extended language model for smooth, realistic conversation, while a partnership allowed Microsoft Bing to do the heavy lifting, finding the answers to your questions through the through a web search. You could ask the AI any question or try out any of the platform-specific features, like AI-generated visual effects for photos on Instagram. On WhatsApp, for example, it will be possible to ask him to create a group conversation on a specific theme.