If you are a frequent WhatsApp user, you might have noticed a slightly different feature on your phone that looked quite interesting—something like a small blue gradient circle popping up on your chat app. If you have seen this little thing, congratulations! You’ve just been grant access to Meta AI – but what exactly is it? Why do you have it, and why isn’t everyone very happy about this news?
What is Meta AI?
The owner of WhatsApp, Meta, like most tech companies, has certainly made a leap towards the generative and progressive artificial intelligence train.
Meta AI in WhatsApp is an optional artificial intelligence-powered assistant that is used in the app and has been developed by Meta. This allows users to connect and interact with AI directly within the WhatsApp app, thus making life a little simpler for some. Some of its main functions include
- Answering questions and providing instant information on several topics, ranging from local weather news to cricket scores
- Offering recommendations or advice on several topics
- Helping generate new ideas or content
- Assisting with the creation of AI-generated images within the WhatsApp chats
How to access Meta AI in WhatsApp?
It’s easy to access Meta AI within the app, and here is how you can do so:
- You can start a chat directly with Meta AI from the chat list; you have to look for the blue circle icon
- You could mention @Meta AI in a group chat to ask questions or even get advice.
- You can use the search bar to ask Meta AI questions or get suggestions.
Why is Meta AI being integrate into WhatsApp now?
Interestingly, Meta AI has definitely been around and available to users in the United States since 2023 and in the United Kingdom since 2024. This simply means that, whether it’s today or tomorrow, Meta AI will eventually be coming to your WhatsApp. There isn’t exactly a ‘Why’ behind this because the owners of the company have decided to get on the AI train. There has, of course, been a timeline gap between its inception in the USA around 2023 to 2025, but it’s definitely getting there.
What is it appearing on WhatsApp?
- The idea of having Meta AI on WhatsApp is Meta’s way of integrating generative AI across its platforms—after ChatGPT and Perplexity, Meta AI just had to be close behind.
- The idea of having an interactive AI assistant is to make communication a lot more productive and enjoyable, not just 2D conversations that seem flat.
- With AI, you can get creative and informational ideas and tools as a user. Of course, the AI is distinct in the app, but it is represent by a blue circle, and it is only available in select countries.
Why are people not happy about it?
Despite the fact that Meta AI has, in fact, arrived to make things easier and better for users, not everyone is just as happy and excited about its arrival. Here are some reasons why users aren’t happy about it:
- Lack of Privacy and concerns related to it: Although WhatsApp has confirmed that personal messages stay end-to-end encrypted, the messages sent to Meta are process by the company and may be used to improve the AI, but this still raises a concern on data privacy and how the information is truly handled.
- Intrusive Experience: A lot of the time, users may feel that the AI’s presence may feel a little forced or even intrusive.
- Difficulty in removing the feature: At first, there was actually no easy way to really remove or disable the Meta AI from the app, which annoyed and frustrated the users. The recent updates have, however, added options like ‘Advanced Chat Privacy’ to disable such mentions in the chats.
- Accuracy and efficiency: Several users have mentioned that though it is quite helpful, sometimes it can also happen that the AI may become a little inaccurate or even inappropriate, which can even lower and diminish trust in the app or even the feature.
- Aversion to change: A lot of users prefer to use WhatsApp as a straightforward messaging app, and they don’t quite want changes like this. This makes them a little resistant to the change and explains why they’re not really happy about the new AI feature.
Can Meta AI be remove from the app?
It might come as a surprise, but Meta AI cannot be completely remove from WhatsApp. The AI assistant is built into the app, and at least as of now, there is no sure way to fully disable or delete the AI from running on your WhatsApp. However, don’t fret—you can choose to ignore it or mute the features.
Here are some subtle but helpful ways to limit Meta AI from taking control over your WhatsApp:
- Mute Meta AI from your chats so that you don’t receive any notifications
- Deleting or resetting Meta AI is a good way to make sure that there is no interaction from Meta AI, but it still does not remove it from WhatsApp—it just stays silent in the background.
- Manage your stored information, as you can review and delete information by accessing the ‘Memory’ section in the Meta AI chat.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Meta AI in WhatsApp might have been a revolutionary feature for some, but for others, it is quite a headache. However, users can have some control over its presence and can limit the overall interaction in chats if they so desire.
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