Meta gives its AI the ability to see — and celebrity voices for you to choose from
- Meta AI now includes visual and voice capabilities, announced at Meta's Connect event on Wednesday.
- The chatbot can now edit photos you share and answer questions about what it's in them.
Meta AI has moved beyond typing — the chatbot can now see and speak.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new features at Meta's Connect event on Wednesday. The chatbot can use these to understand the world better and provide faster responses, the company said.
Meta AI can reply to photos shared in the chat and answer questions about what's in them, according to the company. For example, if you take a photo of a bird and don't know what kind it is, you can ask Meta AI to identify it. And the chatbot can also now edit photos, including changing the background, removing objects from the image, or adding accessories, among other tools.
Meta AI now also offers celebrity voices like Awkwafina, Dame Judi Dench, John Cena, Keegan-Michael Key, and Kristen Bell. The voices can be selected as your AI voice of choice to answer you any time you ask Meta AI something.
It's not the first time Meta AI has celebrity voices available — but the last time didn't go so well, and the feature was discontinued less than a year after its release. The company had signed deals with celebrities including Kendall Jenner, Tom Brady, and Snoop Dogg, paying up to $5 million to use their voice for two years.
Meta ended up pivoting to focus on its new AI Studio, which Zuckerberg said was an important part of Meta's vision to help people create their own AIs.
The new features come just as OpenAI rolls out its Advanced Voice Mode. Similarly, the two features have a blue circle that indicates voice interaction.
But unlike Meta, OpenAI hasn't quite nailed the celebrity voice feature yet. When the ChatGPT maker used a voice that sounded like Scarlet Johansson, the actress lawyered up.
You can interact with the Meta AI voice on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. Over the next month, the feature will roll out in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
According to the company, Meta is also experimenting with other features on its platforms, like automatic video dubbing and lip-syncing on Reels. These features are supposed to help users see more content in their preferred language and help creators reach more users around the world.
Meta AI is also testing imagined content on Facebook and Instagram. Some images will be based on your interests, and others may feature you, the company said, "so you can be the star of your own story and share your favorites with friends."