Social media giant Meta is brewing a major transformation. According to the Financial Times, Connor Hayes, the company's Vice President of Product, revealed that the company is actively developing an AI-generated character system that will play a significant role on social platforms like Facebook in the future.
Since launching the AI character creation tool in July last year, Meta has successfully incubated hundreds of thousands of AI characters. Although these virtual characters are currently in a private state, they will gradually move to the forefront of social platforms. According to Hayes, these AI characters will have complete profiles, including personalized avatars, and will possess content creation and sharing capabilities, making their presence comparable to real user accounts.
Image Source Note: Image generated by AI, image licensed from service provider Midjourney
To advance this technological layout, Meta has listed the development of AI technology as one of its core strategies for the next two years. Currently, users can already utilize Meta AI for image editing or creating AI assistants. The company also plans to launch a text-to-video generation tool to help creators produce AI video content.
However, this ambitious plan has also raised concerns in the industry. Becky Owen, Chief Marketing Officer of a billion-dollar company, pointed out that AI characters lack real-life experiences and emotional resonance, which could affect the quality of platform content. Meanwhile, experts have warned that without effective regulation, AI accounts could exacerbate the spread of misinformation.
In response, Meta has taken initial precautionary measures, requiring all AI-generated content to be labeled with "AI Information." A Meta spokesperson told Fox Business that the AI studio will allow users to create and interact with AI characters based on personal interests, with these virtual characters being applicable in various scenarios, including practical and entertainment purposes.
Although Meta is making unprecedented investments in AI, its CEO Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that the actual benefits of this technology may take years to materialize. He emphasized that while developing top-tier AI technology is a monumental task, this investment will ultimately yield substantial returns for the company and its investors in the long run.
