Meta unveils a universal AI toolkit

Meta finally unveiled details of new AI-powered tools. In a presentation they showcased a voice assistant, neural networks with different personalities, smart glasses, and stickers.

“We are presenting a platform for creating AI that will help accomplish a task or simply entertain. People will be able to interact with these tools across the entire Meta product universe,” said Mark Zuckerberg, the head of the company.

Useful Tools

Two features will soon arrive on Instagram — photo restyling and background replacement. They use the Emu technology for image creation and run on the Segment Anything model.

The first utility lets you apply filters to a photo using only a textual description. For example, you can render in a watercolor style or specify a more concrete prompt such as “a collage from magazines and newspapers, ragged edges.”

The background replacement tool works on the same principle. The AI automatically identifies the main object and substitutes the background on request.

“We know how important transparency is when it comes to AI-generated content, so images created with restyling and background will carry the appropriate labeling,” Meta stressed.

The company is very proud of its generative AI for creating stickers, which was even showcased at the start of the presentation. The neural network is built on Llama 2 technology and the Emu technology mentioned above.

The feature will be available to English-speaking users in WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and Facebook Stories within the next month.

Personal Assistant

Meta AI is a bot assistant you can interact with “as you would with a human” across the company’s core products.

The neural network is built on Llama 2 and has real-time information access thanks to a partnership with the Bing search engine. In addition, the AI includes a built-in image-creation tool.

The assistant can answer questions, plot routes, converse with users, and much more.

Meta AI will also embed the AI assistant in the Quest 3 virtual reality headset and in Ray‑Ban smart glasses, which can make calls, host live streams and take photos.

In addition to the virtual assistant, Meta has created 28 more chatbots with distinct personalities. Each has a profile on Facebook and Instagram.

“You can think of these AIs as a new cast of characters with unique backstories,” the company explained.

To record the voices, the company enlisted popular actors and celebrities:

• Charli D’Amelio as the dance-loving Coco;
• Chris Paul as professional golfer Perry;
• Dwyane Wade as the motivating triathlete Victor;
• Israel Adesanya as aspiring MMA fighter Luis;
• Naomi Osaka as anime girl Tamaki;
• Paris Hilton as Detective Amber’s partner;
• Snoop Dogg as the Dungeon Master;
• Tom Brady as the witty sports buff Bru.

More characters will soon be added, including Bear Grylls, Chloe Kim and Josh Richards.

What next?

Lastly, Zuckerberg introduced the AI Studio platform for building AI-powered tools. The project aims to unite all interested parties, even those who are not programmers.

In the coming weeks, Meta will open access to the service to a select group of developers to release AI utilities based on corporate API.

“Companies will be able to build AI that reflects their brand values and improves customer service. From small businesses looking to scale to large firms seeking to improve communications,” Meta representatives noted.

Next year the company will launch a sandbox for promising developers who will be able to present the outputs of their future projects.

In September, the tech giant Microsoft announced the Copilot system, which unites Windows OS interfaces with AI language models.