Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, officially launched its AI assistant in the UK recently, marking its first step onto European territory.
The assistant, which can generate text and images, is now available on both social media networks, while Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has also introduced AI-powered sunglasses, which can access the assistant through voice commands.
While the AI assistant was initially launched in the US and Australia, its UK release faced some delays due to regulatory concerns and product testing. The EU remains off-limits for Meta’s AI services due to the region’s strict regulations.
Let’s take a closer look at what this new assistant means for the tech market and what we can expect from it over the coming months.
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Regulation hurdles for Meta
Meta’s AI assistant has faced a major hurdle in launching in the European Union thanks to the strict regulation there. The continent has been at the forefront of regulation in other industries, from banking to online casinos.
Strict regulations on these industries have influenced the development of AI technologies that interact with consumers. One example is the use of chatbots that are designed to provide personalized customer support. These bots must comply with legislation set out in the European Artificial Intelligence Act which stat that the chatbot must clearly disclose to users that they are interacting with a machine.
Certain AI-generated content, including deepfakes, must be labelled as such, and users need to be informed when techniques like biometric categorization or emotion recognition systems are being used.
Regulation like this has prevented Meta from launching in continental Europe, but it has been successful in hitting the UK market, a major commercial area and a big success for Zuckerberg’s project.
The UK launch
Meta’s AI assistant launched in the UK to much fanfare, with the chatbot being accessible on Facebook, Instagram, and Ray-Ban Meta sunglasses. Users can access it by tapping an icon in their app or buying the Meta frames for £299 from a UK retailer.
The AI assistant is powered by Meta’s Llama 3.2 AI model and is part of Meta’s broader efforts to integrate AI into its products and services. Llama 3.2 can generate texts and images from prompts and easily fits into the Meta-run apps as a side icon.
The launch represents a big boost for the company after regulatory issues held up its release there, while product testing was another major obstacle they had to overcome.
UK social media users will need to opt out of Meta using their Facebook and Instagram posts for AI model training by filling out an objection form in the app’s privacy settings. This option, however, won’t be available to AI users who will have agreed to this by signing up to the AI model.
Meta’s AI assistant: What are the positives?
Zuckerberg was quick to list the big advantages that Meta’s AI chatbot will bring to people’s lives in the official launch in September. Key to these is its image analysis where it can identify details within the image, edit it, or generate captions. This is a feature that has largely eluded the likes of ChatGPT and Gemini until now.
Meta’s bot can also generate images and animations based on your prompts, carry out tasks like finding recipes or planning trips, and, of course, the usual knowledge sharing that made generative AI famous.
Another nice feature is Meta AI’s ability to bring together multiple users for group interactions. AI-powered WhatsApp conversations? They’re just around the corner.
Meta’s AI assistant: What are the cons?
Meta, like many tech companies, has faced criticism for its collection and use of user data. Users can opt out of their posts being used to train the AI but, as mentioned above, bot users don’t have that choice.
This raises concerns about the potential for misuse of personal data, such as profiling (where bots create detailed profiles of individuals which can be used for targeted advertising), bias (where a bot may produce biased or discriminatory responses), and misinformation.
Experts have warned users to carefully review the Meta bot’s terms and conditions before signing up and to stop the process if they find something they’re uncomfortable with.
Meta’s AI: Will it be a success?
The success of generative AI bots like ChatGPT has opened up a new world of possibilities for users, giving them mostly accurate answers to their queries in real time.
As such, Meta will have a fight on their hands to usurp the forerunners of this movement. Its image analysis and group interactions are groundbreaking features, but other companies will soon be on track with these and have the technology to do it even better.
One thing that Meta does have on its side is a huge captive audience of billions of Facebook and Instagram users. If it can captivate even 50% of these, then it will be a market leader – something that Mark Zuckerberg boldly set out his vision for at the Meta launch.
As it stands, it would be foolish to bet against the Meta founder who has made a name out of creating one of the biggest digital companies in the world.
