Meta AI appears in Europe: AI chatbot soon on Facebook, Whatsapp & Co.
With some delay, Meta is also making its AI "Meta AI" available in Europe. The AI assistant will be permanently integrated into the Meta apps Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.
Meta announced on 19 March that its AI chatbot MetaAI will now also be available in Europe. The new function will gradually appear in your Meta apps from this week onwards. You will recognise it by a blue circle. The AI function is free of charge.
For users in the USA and some other countries, MetaAI has been available since 2023. In Europe, the introduction has been delayed for a long time "due to the many regulations". According to the company, MetaAI is already used by 700 million people every month, even without Europe.
Assistant for everyday questions
Meta states that the easy access to the AI assistant directly in the apps that people use anyway contributes to its popularity. MetaAI is perceived as a personal assistant and is often asked for instructions, further information and recommendations. The AI has access to the internet and therefore incorporates current events and new products.
The AI can also analyse photos and answer questions about them. Meta cites the translation of a menu and care tips for your photographed plant as examples. It should also be possible to edit photos: Instruct the AI to remove people in the background of a photo or change the colour of an item of clothing.
Source: Meta/Whatsapp
The chat assistant is based on Llama, Meta's own family of language models. These language models were developed to best understand human language and context.
Chat partners just for you or in group chats
You should be able to recognise MetaAI in all Meta apps by a small blue-purple circle. I haven't received the update yet, so unfortunately I can't show you any screenshots. On Whatsapp, for example, you can find the circle in the Chats tab. There, MetaAI is apparently available to you like a normal chat contact. You can also forward messages from other chats to the AI. MetaAI understands German, French, Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic, among other languages.
In group chats, you should be able to call up the AI chatbot with @MetaAI. The AI will then feel addressed in the chat and answer your question. All users in the chat can see your dialogue with the AI. This could be interesting for joint planning - or to clarify once and for all in which order the "Star Wars" films should be watched (chronologically, not by release!).
Data protection and restrictions
On the topic of data protection Meta states that the AI can only read messages in which it has been directly mentioned or addressed. All others are not available to MetaAI. You should also bear in mind that an AI is not always right. Meta also states as a private pension provision that the assistant sometimes gives wrong answers.
Header image: Shutterstock/Mamun_Sheikh
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