Here’s another artificial intelligence feature of Meta that falls into the “why?” category.
Today, Facebook announced a new option to animate your profile picture using AI. There are a variety of preset options available to add movement and depth to your headshot.
As Facebook explained: “You can now animate your profile photo to turn a static photo into a playful animation in seconds. Choose from 0 preset animations like Natural, Party Hat, Confetti, Waves, Hearts, and more to bring your profile photo to life depending on your mood. We’re adding more animation options throughout the year to help you celebrate and express yourself during seasonal moments and special events.”
So, instead of taking a video of yourself and uploading it to the platform, you can now simulate your emotions and activities through AI. For some reason, Meta thinks this is a valuable use for a multi-billion dollar technology.
“For best results, we recommend using a photo that shows a single person with their face clearly facing the camera and no other objects. You can choose the photo you want to animate directly from your camera roll, or choose a photo you’ve already uploaded to Facebook. Once your photo is animated, you can share it to your feed and see it on your profile.”
Now you can share an AI puppet version of yourself doing the heart sign with your fingers. Apparently Mehta thinks filming a short clip of herself doing this in real life would be too complicated and time-consuming for most people.
However, please note that you cannot actually use your uploaded video as your FB profile picture like these AI-simulated animations do. You used to be able to do that, but Facebook removed that option in 2022.
why? Since no one was using this feature, it’s quite puzzling why Facebook decided to roll it out again in hopes of drawing more interest, even 10 years after the feature’s initial launch.
But now it’s AI, and AI is cool, right?
Facebook is also rolling out an AI-powered Restyle option. Facebook Stories and Memories lets you reimagine your visuals with preset style options and unique text-based AI prompts.
“After you upload a photo to your story or view a memory you share in your story,[スタイル変更]Tap to change it to your liking using Meta AI, or choose from Style (like Anime or Illustration), Atmosphere (like Glowing), Lighting (like Fantastic), Color (like Cool or Pink), and Background (like Beach or Cityscape). ”
Finally, Facebook is also adding new AI animated backgrounds for text posts for different seasons.
As such, Meta continues to ramp up its AI as it looks for more ways to get more people interested in its generative AI options, with the hope that it will eventually be able to generate enough revenue to offset the huge costs of operating these tools.
But as always, AI tools like this feel a little out of place on social media, especially Facebook. Because Facebook is where you share personal updates and real notes about what’s going on with your family and friends.
In this context, anything generated by AI is completely meaningless. So social media is more broadly about sharing personal perspectives, so it’s a bit of a mystery where fake AI portrayals fit in.
But then again, Meta is very keen to showcase what its AI tools can do in hopes of further increasing consumer interest in its AI products.
Now you know. And soon, you won’t have to actually react to anything because the AI will be able to simulate everything.
