Mark Zuckerberg’s future imaginative and prescient for Fb will not be what you’d count on, and actually, not even “social” in any means, based mostly on his newest insights.

In an interview this week at South Park Commons, Zuckerberg offered perception into Meta’s long term plans, his imaginative and prescient for the metaverse, the event of AR glasses, and extra.

And in amongst the assorted notes, Zuckerberg made one remark that stood out.

In relation to the evolution of Fb, and social media extra broadly, Zuckerberg mentioned:

“Each a part of what we do goes to get modified not directly [by AI]. [For example] feeds are going to go from – , it was already good friend content material, and now it is largely creators. Sooner or later, plenty of it’ll be AI generated.”

So Zuckerberg’s saying that social media feeds have already undergone their first main evolution, in shifting from social content material, being posts from family and friends, to primarily entertainment-based posts, largely video, based mostly on algorithmically matched uploads aligned together with your pursuits to maintain you scrolling.

However in future, Zuck believes that the following main shift is that we’ll go from video content material to much more AI-generated posts.

Is {that a} good factor?

I imply, Fb is already awash with garbage AI content material, posted by spammers and scammers fishing for likes.

Is that what we actually need, extra robotically engineered photos that simulate precise human content material, however don’t signify something actual, in any means?

After all, we’re nonetheless in the beginning of the generative AI shift, and all of those instruments will enhance, whereas we’re simply now stepping into video content material era, which can be one other factor.

However social platforms have been designed to facilitate human connection, proper? And if we’re not connecting with the world and other people round us, are they nonetheless going to carry the identical attraction?

An argument could possibly be made, as Zuck has finished, that we’re already previous this anyway, and ultimately, enabling extra individuals to make use of AI to supply artistic, partaking content material, even with none cinematic or animation expertise, can be an enormous profit.

However my argument stays that creating partaking content material is not only about having the best instruments, it additionally requires the creator to have the ability to inform a narrative, a compelling, human story, that’ll join with an viewers. That’s not straightforward, there’s a motive why most YouTubers fail, why most writers are by no means in a position to achieve important traction, and why most wannabe authors stay simply that.

It takes time, effort, and dedication to be taught the talents required for storytelling, which is the premise of any artistic effort. And whereas AI instruments will allow extra individuals to create extra forms of content material, that doesn’t imply that it’s going to be any good.

And if Fb is setting itself as much as host an increasing number of AI content material, I can’t see how that’s going to be a profit for the platform total.

However AI stays the development of the second, and it’s value additionally noting that Zuck additionally mentioned extra invaluable makes use of of AI, in a VR context:

“[With] the metaverse stuff, you go from all these builders constructing out these worlds, to it simply being extra generated, nearly like a lucid dream as you are strolling by it. It’ll be wild.”

This, in my view, is a extra sensible, novel use of generative AI that would give Meta a major market benefit. As a result of ultimately, VR goes to catch on, and an increasing number of persons are going to be partaking in additional immersive environments. Historic tendencies level to this, and because the know-how continues to enhance, you’ll be able to see how VR will ultimately develop into the following massive focus.

And if Meta can facilitate full VR creation, by enabling customers to talk their expertise into existence round them, that may be a major advance, and a next-level expertise that no different firm, at this stage no less than, would be capable of compete with.

That’s when Meta’s billions of {dollars} of funding into VR will make extra sense. However the in-between stage for Meta’s AI ambitions, the place it’s giving its viewers extra chatbots, and extra picture era instruments, appears much less strong, much less assured. And actually, a major step away from its social media roots.

Will that be an excessive amount of of a leap? I imply, Fb nonetheless has 2 billion day by day lively customers, and Zuck lately remarked that its AI chatbot is closing in on changing into probably the most used AI assistant on the planet. So its present AI push isn’t seemingly having any adverse impacts. However nonetheless, I additionally don’t see these being transformative instruments, whereas AI-generated junk can also be cluttering up an increasing number of individuals’s feeds.

Do we actually need a Fb the place all of the posts are AI photos, and all of the replies are AI-generated? Is that partaking, or attention-grabbing for customers?

Its route and leaning can also be regarding when Meta itself publishes photos like this:

Like, we simply noticed this precise picture captured on the Olympics, and it was an incredible, actual second, captured by an actual photographer, depicting an actual, human athlete.

Is taking the humanity out of such factor? And once more, is that what Fb customers actually need?