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Meta’s WhatsApp Introduces New AI Tools for Businesses
- Written by Amar Cemanovic Cybersecurity Expert
- Fact-Checked by
Meta announced on Thursday that it’s introducing new AI tools for businesses on WhatsApp at its annual business messaging event in Sao Paulo, Brazil. One aim is to increase revenue from the popular messaging service by introducing targeted ads, which are integral to the business models of Meta’s other popular apps, Facebook and Instagram.
In a video presented at the event, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg explains that the new AI systems can define and recommend the ideal group of recipients to target with relevant promotional material and updates. Previously, these were sent out en masse to anyone who’d opted in to receive a business’s marketing material.
Businesses can now “use ads manager to deliver messages to those customers who are most likely to be interested … this means that businesses are going to see better ROI, and people will see more relevant messages,” he said.
“This [targeted approach] is very important for business because they are paying for those messages,” WhatsApp’s head of strategic markets, Guilherme Horn, told Reuters . Reportedly, the new tools will rely on user data harvested from Facebook and Instagram as long as the same phone number has been used to register all accounts.
Meta also announced that it is testing a new AI chatbot to help businesses improve customer support by answering common questions and suggesting products customers might like, similar to AI chatbots used on product websites. Adding to that, Zuckerberg envisions building a future with specialized AI assistants with specific knowledge about a particular product, service, or topic.
“Our vision is not just to build a single AI assistant, but also to enable lots of different AIs that can serve different purposes, including for businesses,” he said.
A joint report by Meta and Bain & Co. further highlights the potential of utilizing AI for customer interactions, citing India as an example. According to it, AI-powered assistants could transform conversational commerce in the country by enabling multilingual, multimodal, and, most importantly, human-like conversations.
Photo by Antoni Shkraba, from Pexels
Artists Leave Instagram For New App Called Cara After AI Training Updates
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by
Around 800,000 artists migrated from Instagram and Facebook to a new social media app called Cara due to Meta’s recent policy updates regarding the use of content to feed artificial intelligence products.
The tech giant explained in its recent privacy updates on generative AI that content uploaded by users will be used to train Meta’s AI, reportedly to begin June 26. The document states that they will use public data and also “information shared on Meta’s Products and services.” Meta explains that the “information could be things such as posts or photos and their captions.”
The recent updates and the difficulties in opting out reignited debate among artists in multiple forums, social media channels, and Reddit , where artists started to consider the new social media app called Cara, created in 2022 by photographer Jingna Zhang, as a solution.
According to a TechCrunch article published just a few days ago, at the end of May, Cara had 40,000 users. About a week later, on Sunday, Zhang announced on X that the app just reached almost 800,000 users—that’s a staggering 1,900% increase, signifying that artists worldwide are joining the new community hoping for better treatment of their artwork and data.
What Is Cara? Why Artists Prefer This Social Media App
Cara’s interface looks like a mix between Instagram, and X, and it also reminds users of the platform Tumblr. On its About page, Cara includes a statement assuring its commitment to prioritizing human-created content over AI content. “With the widespread use of generative AI, we decided to build a place that filters out generative AI images so that people who want to find authentic creatives and artwork can do so easily.”
Its creator, Zhang, also gained popularity a few weeks ago as she won a copyright infringement case against artist Jeff Dieschburg after two years of legal battle for using her photograph to create a painting without her consent. Dieschburg won a prize and showcased his artwork at an international exhibition, claiming that his work was different and that the image was easily found on the Internet.
“This win means a lot—not just for me but also for artists & photographers everywhere,” said Zhang on Instagram after winning the case, “I want to thank Luxembourg & its judicial system for upholding copyright protection for an individual, especially in time of AI where our rights seem to be quickly eroding.”
Artists who believe in Zhang’s efforts to build better apps for creative humans started building their portfolios on Cara, despite the app facing technical issues due to the massive user growth in recent days. Users have also started a donation campaign promoting the app’s account on BuyMeACoffee and sending money with encouraging messages for the team to help them develop the app sustainably.
