Meta has rolled out its Llama-3 technology-powered AI chatbot Meta AI to all Indian users. Previously, Meta AI had been tested in India for several months, but its official rollout was delayed due to factors such as the Indian election. Currently, Meta AI only supports English and does not support other local Indian languages, which may limit its full popularity in the Indian market.
Meta began testing Meta AI on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and Facebook in April, and has since officially rolled it out to more than a dozen countries. In addition to offering its service through the app's search bar, Meta also offers the tool through the meta.ai website. Meta AI functions similarly to other AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini, and is able to provide a variety of information and services, including suggesting recipes, planning workouts, composing emails, and summarizing texts.
In addition to basic Q&A functionality, Meta AI can suggest Reels videos based on search queries on Instagram and provide tips related to posts in Facebook News Feed. Meta AI can also generate images, but there are currently some biases, such as a tendency to add turbans when generating images of Indian men. Meta says it is continually updating its models to address these issues.
Meta AI can also be used in WhatsApp group chats, such as planning a trip or deciding to watch a movie, but it can only capture the text messages users use when mentioning or replying to the chatbot. Meta fine-tunes the model based on users' conversations with the chatbot, and says there is currently no way to turn off or hide the Meta AI feature in the app, but users can choose to search without invoking the chatbot. The launch of Meta AI will bring new AI experience to India's huge user base.
The launch of Meta AI has brought a new AI auxiliary tool to India's huge user base, and its rich functionality and convenience are expected to enhance the user experience. However, it currently only supports English and the existing bias issues are still areas where Meta AI needs to be improved and perfected. Future version updates are worth looking forward to.