Facebook owner Meta is launching a new “generative AI” product group. reclaim revenue in tough market conditions. This follows investments in the so-called Metaverse (which have yet to pay off) and Apple’s privacy changes affecting Facebook’s ability to track users for advertising purposes.

As ChatGPT continues to dominate news headlines, tech companies are accelerating their focus on AI. Microsoft announced a goal to integrate chatbot functionality into Bing, while Google is in the process of launching a chatbot called Bard.

So it’s no surprise that Facebook is publicly pushing its own AI strategy.

Generative AI can be used to create new text, images, video, audio, code, or synthetic data.explain the new movement Facebook postMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said: In the short term, we will focus on building creative and expressive tools. “

Why Facebook needs AI to solve its problems

Facebook owner Meta has been focused on AI for some time, and the technology is essential to solving multiple problems in its business model. Facebook and Instagram feeds are slowly morphing to look more like TikTok.

“Facebook and Instagram are moving from being solely centered around the people and accounts you follow to increasingly showing more relevant content recommended by AI systems. It covers all content formats, and that’s what makes our service unique,” Zuckerberg recently said. Financial results announcementthe company added, “Because Reels is growing rapidly, we are focusing specifically on short-form videos.”

Zuckerberg outlines that reels placed on Facebook and Instagram have “almost doubled in the last year,” and people re-sharing reels have more than doubled on both apps in the past six months.

However, Reels’ monetization efficiency is lower than Feed’s, so Facebook needs to move forward here, Zuckerberg said.

According to Zuckerberg, the “revenue headwinds” the company is suffering from, namely Apple’s privacy changes, will be neutral by the end of the year.

Of course, Facebook’s business model is driven by data and advertising, and we want to help users do more with less. Facebook has been forced to adjust in a privacy-conscious climate driven by Apple’s iOS privacy push. AI is said to actually help protect your privacy We also invest in research into machine learning techniques that protect privacy. Meta has also released the Large Language Model Meta AI (LLaMAI) model to researchers.

Facebook says its investments in AI and ML have paid off so far, with advertisers boasting improved performance and efficiency across the platform. In the last quarter, the advertiser converted more than 20% more than he did in the previous year, which, combined with lower acquisition costs, has lowered the cost of advertising, the company claims.

The end of the metaverse?

With all these announcements being made, it’s no wonder you’re wondering what’s going on in the Metaverse.A year ago, it was all the company could talk about. Mark Zuckerberg’s pretty scary avatar was everywhere.

According to financial news site street, Meta’s AI focus is deviation from the real news. In announcing the AI ​​team, Mark Zuckerberg “just filled the metaverse,” he wrote in The Street.

In 2021 and 2022, Reality Labs, the division housing the Metaverse project, posted cumulative losses of nearly $24 billion, including $13.7 billion last year, notes The Street.

“The legacy of the Metaverse will remain, because Meta will continue to develop remnants of this virtual world, such as headsets, but for target audiences such as video gamers and the cryptocurrency world,” he predicted. I’m here.

However, Meta claims that it is “committed to the vision it has set for the Metaverse.”

“This is clearly a long-term investment as we continue to move the Metaverse forward through a variety of areas including quests, mixed reality and next-generation social experiences,” a Meta spokesperson told me. .

This echoes comments Mark Zuckerberg made on last month’s earnings call. His two major technology waves driving our roadmap are AI now and the Metaverse in the long term. “

Can Facebook’s AI dream solve its revenue nightmare?

There is no doubt that AI talk is everywhere at this point. ChatGPT’s rapid success has so far been the catalyst for his 2023 technology.

There is a lot of talk about AI, but the risks are also worth considering. Jake Moore, Global Cybersecurity Advisor at ESET, says the more people rely on AI-driven algorithms, the more likely they are to be abused or abused. “Our data that drives AI will continue to feed into our systems, and people will have to be careful what they type. What they type can be sensitive or even sensitive,” he warned. To do. “People need to be careful about what companies can do with their data, especially if the apps are free.”

AI is a useful technology that, when used in the right way, can improve efficiency and even enhance privacy. But can AI save Facebook? Because AI alone can’t save anyone. Still, Facebook needs to fundamentally change the way it does business, and investing in technology is a smart choice.