Highlights:

  • Meta is now offering Imagine as a standalone service through a dedicated webpage, and this independent version is accessible free of charge, producing images within seconds.
  • What distinguishes latent diffusion models from conventional AI image generators is using a neural network known as an autoencoder to augment the training dataset.

Meta Platforms Inc. has introduced generative artificial intelligence features that will soon be accessible across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.

These features are being rolled out for Meta Platforms Inc.’s Meta AI chatbot. Unveiled in September, this chatbot can fetch information from the web through Bing and create images.

In the recent update, Meta AI will empower users to receive more detailed responses when submitting questions from their mobile devices. Moreover, Meta’s engineers have broadened the spectrum of requests the chatbot can handle and improved its capability to summarize Bing search results.

Simultaneously, the company is enhancing the chatbot’s multimodal processing capabilities. Users can now leverage Meta AI to explore clips hosted on Meta’s Facebook Reels service. The chatbot’s integrated Imagine image generation tool has been enhanced, allowing users to upload and edit an existing photo using natural language commands.

Meta is now offering Imagine as a standalone service through a dedicated webpage, and this independent version is accessible free of charge and produces images within seconds. Images generated using the tool will feature an invisible watermark, detectable by a suitably configured neural network.

The independent iteration of Imagine operates on the Emu artificial intelligence model, which was introduced by Meta researchers in September. Emu underwent training with a dataset comprising 1.1 billion images and is structured on latent diffusion architecture. What distinguishes latent diffusion models from conventional AI image generators is using a neural network known as an autoencoder to augment the training dataset.

Meta AI is just one of the chatbots that the social media giant provides to its users. Earlier this year, the company rolled out over two dozen additional chatbots, each designed to generate text in a distinct style. As part of today’s update, multiple services are also undergoing improvements.

Meta states six chatbots will now feature a “long-term memory” capability. This enhancement will empower them to retain information from one chat session to the next. Simultaneously, another six chatbots are integrating with Bing, enabling them to leverage web information when responding to user queries.

Meta has outlined its strategy to progressively introduce more generative AI functionalities across its platform in the upcoming year. The forthcoming functionalities are poised to cater to a range of use cases, particularly emphasizing text generation and image editing. Meta is currently experimenting with a generative AI feature to assist users in researching products available on its Facebook Marketplace classified ads service and discovering related merchandise.