After integrating Meta’s AI into WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger, the company has now unveiled a standalone AI chatbot app at LlamaCon. The app bears similarities to other chatbot tools but leverages a major advantage: the profiles users have built over the years by sharing data on Facebook and Instagram.
A Meta spokesperson emphasized that this new AI assistant differs from others because it can “[use] information you’ve already chosen to share in Meta products.” For now, this personalized experience is available only in the US and Canada, though we’ll keep you updated as more regions may gain access in the future.
Personalization and User Data
According to Meta, personalization makes the assistant more useful. Users can allow the AI to retain information about them, such as their preferences, fears, or even medical conditions. The AI assistant can then offer tailored support in areas like planning a wedding, organizing a trip, scheduling a doctor’s appointment, choosing a restaurant, or even arranging a funeral.
Meta believes this tailored approach offers more benefits than drawbacks. While privacy remains a key concern, the assistant only uses data that users have already chosen to share, and the goal is to enhance the overall user experience.
Sharing Interactions and Growing Trends
The app includes a Discover feed, a space where users can choose to share the results of their AI interactions. For example, Meta’s mockup shows a user asking the AI to describe them in three emojis, which they then share with friends. Importantly, nothing gets posted publicly without the user’s consent.
However, this feature may contribute to the broader cultural fixation on generative AI, notes NIX Solutions. As users increasingly share stylized AI-generated content—like transforming themselves into Barbie dolls or Studio Ghibli characters—it adds to the ongoing wave of AI enthusiasm, which can at times border on mass psychosis.
In all, Meta’s new AI app presents an interesting twist on chatbot experiences by integrating existing user data for a more personalized approach. We’ll keep you updated as more integrations become available and as the app expands beyond its initial markets.