2024 is likely to be remembered as the year when tech giants competed to make their version of AI chatbots an integral part of our daily lives. Currently, Google Gemini and ChatGPT are the leading contenders, but Meta is gradually integrating Meta AI into its popular apps Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, making chatting with Meta’s version of an AI chatbot easier than ever.
But what about the rest of us who don’t have the patience to type long and tedious prompts for an AI chatbot? We’re glad you asked, because WaBetaInfo has discovered a new feature in WhatsApp for Android beta (version 2.24.16.10) that allows users to send voice messages to Meta AI. Until now, communication with Meta AI was limited to text and image-based dialogue.
Screenshots shared by the publication offer a glimpse of what this could look like, A voice message button appears directly in Meta AI’s chat interface, suggesting that sending voice messages to Meta AI may work very similarly to regular conversations. Details of which languages Meta AI will support for voice messages are unclear, but given WhatsApp’s popularity in South Asian countries, it’s likely that Meta will prioritize multilingual support.
The big question now is whether Meta AI will be able to use the new voice chat feature to perform specific functions within WhatsApp, such as responding to messages and suggesting replies, or whether it will primarily act as a general voice assistant for tasks like web searches and recommendations. If it chooses the latter, Meta AI could face stiff competition from the standard voice assistants that already come with smartphones.
It will be exciting to see how this new feature develops in the coming months. The voice chat feature is currently only available to a limited number of beta testers, but is expected to be available to a wider user base soon.