Tag: Meta

Society is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of mental health. However, this awareness clashes directly with areas such as social media. The functioning and design of these platforms often lead many users into a whirlpool of comparisons, numbers, and easy entertainment, with detrimental consequences for our psyche.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, knows better than anyone the ins and outs of social networks and how to make the most of them. If he has to set aside the mental health of users to achieve this, so be it. At least, that’s what internal documents from Meta have suggested, which became public due to an ongoing lawsuit against the company, as reported by CNN.

In this case, it’s a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General of Massachusetts against Meta and Instagram. The reason? Allegedly promoting “unfair and deceptive practices that harm young people.”

Through these internal communications, it has been revealed that Zuckerberg personally thwarted several initiatives aimed at improving the mental health of teenagers on Facebook and Instagram. Some of the accusations include encouraging Meta to increase the amount of time users spend on Instagram.

Well-being was never the priority

In 2019, Zuckerberg rejected a proposal to remove beauty filters on Instagram. Much has been said about these filters and their consequences, such as promoting unrealistic expectations about our own body image. In April 2022, Zuckerberg wrote to several employees stating that there was a high demand for filters and that there were no data suggesting they were harmful, according to the lawsuit.

But that’s not all. After the controversial decision to keep the filters, Nick Clegg (President of Global Affairs at Meta) pressured Zuckerberg to strengthen the company’s position regarding mental well-being. The CEO of Meta remained silent and responded to Clegg through the Chief Financial Officer, clarifying that “the staff was too limited to address the request.”

The lawsuit also included an internal company presentation that was quite revealing. In it, Instagram was described as seeking to hook teenagers with dopamine hits through notifications, likes, followers, and more.

While Threads had a strong start upon its launch, Meta’s new app has been declining over time. Mark Zuckerberg’s company aims to give a boost to what many consider the primary alternative to Twitter (now called X). With the goal of encouraging Threads usage, the company has started publicly sharing content from the new social network on Facebook and Instagram feeds without users’ consent.

Considering that this has been done without users’ permission, it was expected that this decision would spark controversy, as it has. Several users have expressed their dissatisfaction with this action because many of them use Threads in a more intimate manner, so to speak, and they do not like their posts being shared with their broader social circle on Facebook or Instagram.

Users of Meta’s new app, Threads, are not pleased with the cross-posting between Threads and Facebook

Despite these complaints, it’s true that the tactic of sharing Threads’ content on Facebook and Instagram has worked out well for them. According to a recent report, Meta’s new app has seen an increase in downloads in recent weeks. It’s worth mentioning that this new social network had been somewhat stagnant for a while, although shortly after its launch, it had already reached 100 million users, as noted by SimilarWeb.

Addressing user complaints about Threads, someone inquired about how to cancel cross-platform posting. Meta responded with the following: “We have released an update to make it easier for people to see the most recent Threads content directly on Facebook and Instagram.” Additionally, the company added that they are “listening to feedback like yours as we continue to develop this.”

Certainly, this isn’t new territory for Meta, as Zuckerberg’s company has used Facebook on other occasions to promote various projects and products, such as Instagram reels or including ads from WhatsApp businesses. However, the contentious issue arises when these actions are taken without the consent of the users involved.

So, if Meta hopes to boost the usage of Threads and keep its users engaged once they join, it’s expected that the company will take measures to appease the situation in the best way possible for the parties involved.

If you knew how many people communicate solely through stickers, it would surprise you. Since stickers arrived in instant messaging apps, millions of people use them to express feelings or thoughts. And now, AI has taken the game to a whole new level.

The initial tests of Meta’s new AI-generated sticker tool have resulted in some aberrant (and quite humorous) creations.

After gaining access to the new AI-generated sticker tool on Facebook Messenger, user @Pioldes was able to create a series of inappropriate images, including child soldiers, armed Nintendo characters, Mickey Mouse in various unconventional situations, and much more that we won’t detail here.

found out that facebook messenger has ai generated stickers now and I don't think anyone involved has thought anything through pic.twitter.com/co987cRhyu

— podesbiens.bsky.social (@Pioldes) October 3, 2023

Other examples demonstrate that Meta’s tool is also capable of putting a pair of breasts on… well, almost anything, judging by the images of Sonic the Hedgehog and Karl Marx.

There’s even a sticker showing a woman breastfeeding Pikachu. Honestly, this makes no sense at all.

I'm sure this is fine pic.twitter.com/XbzT7RgtlQ

— podesbiens.bsky.social (@Pioldes) October 4, 2023

They were Meta’s big novelty a week ago

AI-generated chat stickers were announced last week at Meta’s Connect event, along with a new AI image editor for Instagram.

These AI-generated stickers, based on Meta’s large language model Llama 2 (a competitor of ChatGPT), allow users to create “multiple unique and high-quality stickers in seconds” using text-based instructions.

AI-generated stickers are currently rolling out to “select English-speaking users” on Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories, and DMs, Messenger, and WhatsApp throughout this month. It’s unclear how many users have access to this feature.

LPT: typos of restricted words will eventually generate the prohibited content! pic.twitter.com/6PnrTJ3U7x

— Buttered Jorts (@ajn142) October 4, 2023

Certain words appear to be blocked, and using them in messages will warn the user that their description might violate Meta’s community guidelines.

However, other users have reported that inappropriate content can still be generated using typographical errors or descriptions of restricted words.

These kinds of “glitches” are common with the launch of AI tools, which is likely why Meta is conducting a limited rollout of the AI-generated sticker feature. But the memes that are surfacing are already here to stay.

Meta is paving its own way in the world of generative AI. From choosing to make Llama 2 the standard for AI developers to allowing users to chat with Snoop Dogg, Mark Zuckerberg’s company has been achieving significant milestones in the realm of generative AI, each time taking bigger leaps. Meta has now made a huge stride by introducing its new AI, this time in the form of an image generator called Emu. In Zuckerberg’s words, it stands for “expressive media universe.” Emu, affectionately known as Emú, continues the animal-themed tradition of Llama and aims to integrate into Meta’s other products such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.

Emu searches for stickers using real-time AI

The purpose of Emu is to integrate into all Meta applications, providing access to generative artificial intelligence and real-time image creation for all users. Users can create personalized stickers for their chats whenever they want and however they prefer.

Zuckerberg has stated, not without pride, that Emu takes just 5 seconds to create an image, although he has also acknowledged that it’s not fast enough for his children. Nevertheless, Meta intends to integrate Emu into Meta AI, its basic assistant currently in beta, allowing users to generate images and bot responses. This integration is not a straightforward task, but the company is working on it with a long-term perspective, a process that could unfold over the coming months or years.

Zuckerberg has admitted that Meta’s deliberate, gradual approach to artificial intelligence, especially in the realm of generative AI, is intentional. He remains optimistic about the results Meta is achieving in this field. Thus, he has indicated that what users have seen so far is just the beginning.

Meta continues to move forward with its commitment to artificial intelligence. While the company had set its sights on virtual worlds, it seems to have made a sudden shift in its more immediate plans and decided to focus on the needs of the present. That’s why Meta is gearing up to launch a new chatbot, internally called “Gen AI Personas.”

The official announcement will take place during Meta Connect, an event the company is hosting on September 27th and 28th. With this project, the main goal of the technology conglomerate is to attract younger users. But how exactly does it plan to do that?

To begin with, the generative AI Gen AI Personas will manifest through different personalities with which we can interact. For example, one of them, ‘Bob the robot,’ is inspired by Bender from Futurama, according to The Verge. When chatting with this ‘persona,’ we would be conversing with a snarky and sarcastic robot, similar to what we can see in the series.

To boost the launch of their new project, Meta has reportedly been in talks with major content creators and influencers. The purpose of this would be to create chatbots based on their personas that could also interact with their fans.

However, we should note that not all of these chatbots will be for fun. Among the dozens of bots Meta plans to launch, some will also be oriented towards productivity: tasks like coding, organization, and more.

Indeed, Meta is aiming high. During the upcoming Meta Connect event, Zuckerberg’s company will also showcase the latest developments related to the Metaverse and the new Quest 3 headsets. As if that weren’t enough, Meta continues to work on the development of a language model with which they aim to surpass the one presented by OpenAI, GPT-4. Given what we’ve seen, all we can do is wait to see if they can ultimately outpace Sam Altman’s team in the race for artificial intelligence.

Mark Zuckerberg’s company recently announced its intention to slow down its efforts regarding Facebook News in Europe, or at least in parts of it. Starting in December, the social media giant will begin phasing out this service in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Facebook News, introduced in 2019, has its own tab on the social network’s website and app. While it was planning to expand to Latin America, starting with Brazil, it seems that due to its limited success in European test runs, it won’t be reaching this region after all.

For now, Facebook supports local and international news that may be of interest to each market. In its original function, articles were selected through an algorithm, although it had a section of articles chosen by humans. However, a year ago, Meta made all posts be chosen algorithmically.

Chronicle of a Foretold Death

Facebook News was doomed almost from the moment it was born. Without the necessary support from Meta, which focused on its promising Metaverse and later on the Llama 2 artificial intelligence, it couldn’t gather the momentum needed to compete against other news aggregators like Google’s Discover. This might seem curious, considering that a significant part of Facebook’s existence has been about sharing news, but the company saw greater profitability in other markets.

Moreover, Facebook News found itself in a delicate position within Meta, as legislative initiatives emerged against major tech companies becoming news distributors, led by Australia and closely followed by Canada, though with varying results.

Even with the closure of Facebook News, the media outlets that used to publish their news there can continue to do so through their own pages, where they can post stories and links to their news. However, Meta hasn’t offered any solutions to help these media outlets overcome this setback. At least not for now.

During the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the Cupertino company unveiled its Vision Pro, its first mixed reality system. This high-performance proposal in a relatively unexplored market has sparked reactions among Apple’s most dedicated fanbase and also from its competitors. Meta doesn’t want to miss out on its share of the pie and, as reported by Maekyung, it has formed an alliance with LG to compete in this emerging market. It may seem like a sudden collaboration, but the Apple Vision Pro is set to launch next year, so any company not wanting to miss this opportunity needs to move quickly.

Meta’s plan is to try and take on Apple in its own field and bolster its virtual and augmented reality offerings. This would create significant synergies with LG, a hardware giant looking to enter the metaverse market and become the primary supplier of parts, batteries, and screens for this venture.

Thus, this premium augmented reality set would be called “Meta Quest 4 Pro” to maintain its established naming convention, and users could expect to purchase it starting in 2025 as a strong alternative to the Apple Vision Pro. In terms of specifications, it’s expected to be on par with Apple, although its price may be slightly lower. In fact, Meta has already stated that it is preparing a low-cost version that could be available in 2024 for less than $200.

Two formats of Meta Quest 4

Considering that the Apple Vision Pro will cost $3,499 at launch (although they are looking to reduce this price somehow), it raises questions about the differences between a high-performance version that approaches this device and the $200 Meta Quest 4. What is Meta willing to sacrifice to get the majority of the market to adopt its system? And more importantly, can such an affordable price truly convince consumers that their product is trustworthy? It’s highly likely that the budget-friendly version won’t come close to matching the capabilities of Apple’s Vision Pro. If this is the case, what can their premium alternative offer without significantly undermining the basic version? We’ll find out soon.