WhatsApp looks to be getting an AI makeover soon – here’s what could happen
WhatsApp is apparently testing a new look that puts AI at the center of the messaging app first discovers ThroughWABetaInfo. The new look, as seen in a beta version of the Android app, gives AI its own tab and is clearly intended to encourage users to play with Meta’s many AI tools.
The WABetaInfo team found that the AI tab includes features like “Popular AI Characters” you can chat with and bots organized by topic, like a bizarre dinner party where everyone is a robot. There are also AI-generated stickers, images and a Meta AI-powered search engine.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because these AI tools already exist in WhatsApp. You may not have noticed them because they are hidden under the Chats tab. This redesign appears to make AI more visible and presumably more widely used. Whether that happens is anyone’s guess, but Meta seems to be betting that AI will be the next big thing in reporting. The changes also affect the Communities tab, which will no longer have its own space and will instead be under the Chats tab.
AI WhatsApp
WABetaInfo Also found that Meta is experimenting with custom AI bots that users can design within WhatsApp. By integrating this feature into WhatsApp, Meta makes it more convenient than turning to Instagram’s AI Studio, although it’s still unclear how many people will actually want to build their own chatbots. They may prefer the ready-made versions of the platform or just chat with real people.
The upcoming changes to WhatsApp are in line with Meta’s efforts to integrate AI across its platforms, especially by encouraging the use of the Meta AI Assistant. If it can entice even a small portion of WhatsApp’s more than two billion users to get started with its AI products, Meta will be happy.
It somewhat goes against WhatsApp’s sleek and simple style, but that may not matter if people want to use AI for any purpose. Still, there’s a fine line between improving a platform and overloading it, and Meta balances right on that line.
There’s no date for the renewal, although the beta testing suggests a wait of a few months is likely. That said, if the integration of ChatGPT on WhatsApp proves to be as popular as OpenAI hopes, you might see the AI-focused WhatsApp hit the market even sooner and be copied throughout Meta’s ecosystem.