Meta’s tremendous eager to change into a key participant within the generative AI race, which is why it’s investing billions upon billions into AI {hardware} and improvement, and jamming its new AI options into all of its apps.

Which incorporates WhatsApp, the most well-liked messaging app on the earth, which can also be notoriously troublesome so as to add options into, as a result of most WhatsApp are solely eager about sending messages to their associates, and nothing else.

However Meta’s going to provide it a shot both method, with the corporate now creating a brand new AI profile picture generator for WhatsApp profiles.

As you’ll be able to see on this screenshot, posted by WABetaInfo, within the newest model of WhatsApp, there’s new code regarding an as but unreleased “Create AI Profile Image” possibility on your WhatsApp presence.

Which, because it sounds, would allow you to generate your individual AI photograph, which you’ll be able to already do through numerous third get together instruments, and you can even, not less than theoretically, create through Meta’s personal AI instruments.

Although including your individual picture into the Meta AI chat stream isn’t easy.

As an experiment, I attempted just a few other ways to do that, first by asking it to create an alternate model of my profile picture (it returned an image of a younger Asian man), then to create a picture of “Andrew Hutchinson” (it returned a canine chasing a Frisbee), then the “human” Andrew Hutchinson (it gave me this picture of a Victorian period gentleman sitting in his research).

It then knowledgeable me that it will probably’t truly entry any pictures, so I might solely do that by describing by profile picture. Which, I assume, might work, with a good bit of trial and error, kind of like making a police sketch of your self through AI.

However once more, it’s potential, whereas Meta’s additionally experimenting with AI profile picture era particularly on Fb and IG.

Possibly they’ll all get launched directly, with the AI profile picture possibility obtainable in all of Meta’s apps, giving billions of individuals the prospect to create hyperreal, barely off-putting depictions of themselves.

Would that be a superb factor? Most likely not, however fascinating nonetheless. Doubtlessly.

The function would add to WhatsApp’s present AI components, together with stickers that you would be able to create from textual content prompts, and its Meta AI chatbot, which Meta believes will finally change into fashionable, regardless of unfavourable preliminary suggestions.

And whereas most of those instruments are considerably fascinating, as famous, most are additionally, at this stage not less than, a novelty, that’s unlikely to see ongoing use.

However AI is the factor of the second, and all the large tech gamers are satisfied that not solely will they change into transformative instruments, but in addition, that they should incorporate them to maintain up.

And whereas there are some use instances for generative AI which are important, I’m nonetheless undecided that social and messaging apps want them.

Looks like we’re going to seek out out both method.