At its latest Connect event today, Meta unveiled significant updates to its AI products. Meta AI, now used by more than 400 million people monthly, has become smarter, more interactive, and offers new multimodal features. With 185 million people using Meta AI weekly, the platform continues to grow, and Meta says it expects it to become the most-used AI assistant by the end of the year.
Meta AI Gets a Voice and Vision
Users can now talk to Meta AI across Messenger, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, with the assistant responding in real-time using voices from notable figures like Awkwafina, Dame Judi Dench, John Cena, Keegan Michael Key, and Kristen Bell.
Also, Meta AI now has vision capabilities, allowing it to analyze and respond to shared images. Users can ask Meta AI to identify objects, provide information, or even edit photos by adding or removing elements. You can upload a picture of a cake, for example, then ask Meta AI how you can make it and it will explain everything to you:
Meta is also testing new AI-generated content and translation tools. Reels on Instagram and Facebook will soon feature automatic dubbing and lip-syncing, allowing creators to reach audiences in different languages. AI-generated images will appear in users’ feeds, offering customized content based on user preferences. This potentially will let creators reach wider audiences around the globe now that easy translation is here.
Llama 3.2: Meta’s New Vision Model
Meta introduced the new Llama 3.2 models, their first major open-source vision models capable of understanding both images and text. These models range from 1B to 90B in size and are optimized for mobile devices and cloud platforms. Meta is also launching Llama Stack Distributions to simplify deployment across different environments, including on-prem, cloud, and on-device setups. These models will be available through partner platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.
AI Tools for Businesses
Meta is expanding its AI tools for businesses using click-to-message ads on WhatsApp and Messenger, allowing companies to quickly set up AI assistants to engage with customers, provide support, and commerce. Meta’s generative AI ad tools are seeing fast adoption, with over a million advertisers creating more than 15 million ads in the last month. Campaigns using these tools saw an 11% higher click-through rate and a 7.6% higher conversion rate compared to those not using the AI features.
The live demos on stage by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (dude’s looking jacked) were actually pretty neat, and was nice to see live demos once again (unlike Apple and its now standard pre-filmed events). The Orion AR glasses are super thick but look impressive for a 1.0 product. We also saw the new Meta Quest 3S, a more affordable headset that starts at $399 in Canada.
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
