Meta Platforms (META) has launched a free AI assistant across all of its social media platforms. The virtual chatbot leverages Meta's proprietary AI model, Llama 3, to allow users to ask questions and engage in conversations. Yahoo Finance Tech Editor Dan Howley breaks down the features of this new feature.
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video transcript
Mark Zuckerberg: We're launching a new version of Meta AI, an assistant that lets you ask any question you want across apps and glasses. And our goal is to build the world's leading AI and make it available to everyone.
– I didn't have enough time to go out and buy a t-shirt and chain to go with Zach's outfit. It was Mark Zuckerberg introducing the company's new AI assistant. One can only imagine how much the quality of Instagram comments has improved as a result. Dan Howley joins us for discussion. Okay. I think we'll get to the llama's name later.What's the TLDR about the rest of the little rant Zuckerberg went on there [INAUDIBLE]?
Dan Howley: They look very much like brothers. I'll just throw it out there.
– So he's in a brotherly moment.
Dan Howley: He is MMA in full bro mode.
– That's what he intends…
Julie Hyman: This is the age of brothers.
– You know, before I had $50 million or something, I couldn't do this, but now it makes perfect sense.
Dan Howley: I'm just as cool as everyone else, even if I'm richer than everyone else.
– Yeah.
Dan Howley: got it. This is, what we're really talking about is basically deploying the latest version of a large language model that they have. It's called Llama 3. And they're building it into what they call meta-AI. This is basically an AI chatbot that they have across all their services like Instagram, Messenger, Facebook Blue — what is officially Facebook, and WhatsApp. And you may have already seen it. It will appear in the top right corner of the screen.
There's also a website, meta.ai, where you can chat with this bot and basically ask it what you want. It's basically a versatile bot. They're open sourcing this. Open source is good because it's easily scrutinized and people can look into it and see where there are problems or errors. And that's – yeah, that's – yeah, yeah. displayed in the top corner of the screen.
It's interesting that they're doing this, getting into this kind of general AI chatbot. After all, the most common AI bot is search, right? So I'm not sure how that applies to me preferring pancake photos.
– Yeah. So my thoughts on this are, one, you have all the content that's in all of the different app families, so there's no problem using that content to feed the language model. is. In other words, there is a lack of conflict. Now, obviously, the volume isn't as big as the internet as a whole, but that's what Google is aiming for.
Julie Hyman: It's very big.
– It's not nothing. It's never nothing. I also wonder how Meta can use the technical term dogfood, and the different ways it might actually be useful to users. Do they have faster feedback mechanisms than other companies that expect enough users to use a certain feature to see what its usefulness is? Whereas here So, as you know, I'm a small business owner. I have an Instagram page. I'm selling things. AI will tap into things like customer interactions. it works. it's not. And if you repeat that tens of thousands or millions of times, you'll get a lot of information.
Dan Howley: You know, this is — OK. This is new, but isn't it? I don't know if you remember, but in the 20s, when he was a teenager, they also introduced chatbots. I think it was M, maybe something like that. I don't remember what exactly chatbots were at the time, but this was supposed to be the be all and end all, right? And you were supposed to be able to chat, so you could chat with Uber, you could chat with another app, you could do anything. And it completely failed because it didn't work well.
So these chatbots are not necessarily new. That's the generative AI aspect. Now, regarding your question about dogfooding, I think it remains to be seen whether small business owners can get a lot of utility out of this. They certainly didn't get much out of the original chatbot idea. So I think what they're really doing is making sure you get into the race. When it comes to AI, they are often talked about big names. Investors love AI, so you need to be ready for it too.
– Increase inventory. [INAUDIBLE] Half today.
Dan Howley: And I mean–
Julie Hyman: But let's say, really quickly, two seconds. What would you do if you went there? What more do you ask?
Dan Howley: I mean, like I'm not — that's my job and I guess —
Julie Hyman: Could you please show me some cute dog?
Dan Howley: right. So it's going to be on Instagram. Of course, if you want to look for something like that. Of course that would be the case. But for me, it's nothing special. If you want to shop, you'll probably use Amazon. You're going to Google, right? That makes sense. I'm not going to watch it — I buy a lot of video game stuff, right? I'm not going to look at Instagram and say, “Show me some video game stuff.”
Julie Hyman: Ah, but there are a lot of Instagram shoppers.
Dan Howley: Ah, I see. know. My wife does it.
Julie Hyman: got it.
Dan Howley: I might do some Simpson stuff or whatever from time to time.
[LAUGHING]
Julie Hyman: Thank you, Dan. to be continued.
