[Exclusive] WhatsApp Starts Testing Meta AI in India With Select Users

WhatsApp has started testing Meta AI dubbed LlaMa (short for Large Language Model Meta AI) with select users in India.

By Ketan Pratap | Updated: 11 April 2024 13:53 IST

[Exclusive] WhatsApp Starts Testing Meta AI in India With Select Users

Meta AI chat on WhatsApp

Highlights

The Meta AI icon appears in the top right corner of the app
Users can ask Meta AI anything, and the company's Llama powers it
This feature is currently available in limited countries

WhatsApp, the widely used messaging app owned by Meta, is finally joining the AI club. The Meta AI icon is finally showing up for some users in India in the main chat list. Meta AI is powered by the company's Large Language Model Meta AI, or long for Llama. It is an advanced artificial intelligence technology developed by Meta. For WhatsApp users, the Meta AI can have conversations about anything, from answering a query or making recommendations to just chit-chatting with AI.

Gadgets 360 got brief access to this AI-enabled feature on Wednesday, after which it vanished, prompting that it may be available for a limited time. The screenshots below show that the Meta AI chat opens with a verified badge and says "#with Llama#". The chat pop-up says, "Ask Meta AI anything," and has a number of suggestive prompts on the screen. The prompts are stacked in a carousel format and can be swiped to show more suggestions. As visible in the screenshot, prompts like "imagine a car race on Mars", "imagine a holographic bus", "Healthy life goals", and more can be given. Notably, the Meta AI icon is placed in the top right corner along with the Camera and New Chat options. The icon reminds me a lot of Microsoft's Cortana assistant.

The Meta AI feature is available in limited countries and only supports English. When starting a chat conversation with Meta AI, the platform notifies, "Messages from Meta AI and other characters are generated by artificial intelligence (AI), using a service from Meta, in response to the prompts you send to the AI." The chat platform also clarifies that Meta AI can only read and reply to chats mentioning @Meta AI, which means the tool doesn't have access to other chats. The prompt adds, "As always, your personal messages and calls remain end-to-end encrypted, meaning not even WhatsApp or Meta can see or listen to them."

How to start a chat with AI from Meta on WhatsApp

Firstly, the Meta AI feature within WhatsApp can answer questions, offer recommendations, and can also talk about interests. To start a chat:

Tap the circular icon on the top right of the main chat list on your WhatsApp
Read and accept the terms (if prompted)
Select a suggested prompt from the screen or type your own
Tap the send button, and you've initiated the conversation

Interestingly, WhatsApp also takes feedback from users on Meta AI. Users can tap and hold the AI-generated responses and tap on 'Good response' or 'Bad response'. Users can also type a reason and submit it.

Meta on the WhatsApp FAQ page mentions that "some messages generated by AIs might not be accurate or appropriate."

Meta recently announced Llama 2, the next generation of its large language model for generative AI assistants, and it is expected to release Llama 3 in the coming weeks.

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Further reading: WhatsApp, Meta AI, WhatsApp AI

Ketan Pratap

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Ketan Pratap is the editor at Gadgets 360 - with over 12 years of experience covering the technology domain. With a breadth and depth of knowledge in the field, he's done extensive work across news, features, reviews, and opinion pieces. But what's truly inspiring about Ketan is how he spends his free time. He's often found gazing at snow-capped mountains from over 20,000 feet while sitting on the hood of his car, taking in the breathtaking beauty of nature. His passion for the great ...More