As generative AI arrives on Instagram and WhatsApp, will chatbots improve social media, or do they pose a threat?

Mark Zuckerberg’s recent Meta AI unveiling ushered in an era of artificial-intelligence-powered chatbots on social media. TikTok is jumping on the bandwagon

But the technology could be used to sway elections and threaten free speech. Already we don’t know how much of what we read was written by large language models

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Meta AI recently brought assistants powered by generative AI to Instagram and WhatsApp, but rather than improving them, the technology may make social media a stronger tool for scammers, and constitute a threat to free speech. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 7:15pm, 7 May 2024

Meta’s new artificial intelligence-powered chatbot is tempting users of the company’s social media platforms with encyclopedic knowledge that is just a few keystrokes away.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has planted its home-grown chatbot on its WhatsApp and Instagram services.

Now, billions of internet users can open one of these free social media platforms and draw on Meta AI’s services as a dictionary, guidebook, counsellor or illustrator, among many other tasks it can perform – although not always reliably or infallibly.

“Our goal is to build the world’s leading AI and make it available to everyone,” said Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive officer at Meta, at the chatbot’s launch. “We believe that Meta AI is now the most intelligent AI assistant that you can freely use.”

Meta chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg speaks at the company’s AI chatbot launch, on September 27, 2023. Photo: Reuters

As Meta’s moves suggest, generative AI is making its way into social media.