Back at the Connect 2023 Event, Meta had showed off their AI-Assisted Chat bot feature. The idea was that they would have AI-personas run a chat that users could use to either solve their problems, or even engage in casual conversations. Now, it looks like WhatsApp Beta has started seeding this AI Assistant feature to a few beta testers at random.
One of the aspects that we loved about this feature, when it was revealed by Meta, was that you can give your AI Assistant a unique persona, and it will behave and respond accordingly. Meta has collaborated with some popular celebrities who have lent their voice or images to this feature, but at the moment, that is the extent to which their contribution lies. The assistant is still not capable of imitating the speech style or mannerisms of these celebrities, but we assume that once they can sort out the rights and licenses, the assistants will get that feature as well.
Now, if you want to try this feature out, you will be pleased to know that the beta is available for both iOS and Android. Once you update to the beta build, the AI-Assistant powered chats will appears within the chats section for easy access.
When we tried to get the beta for ourselves, what we noticed is that for iOS, the TestFlight invites are no longer available, whereas Android users can still sign up for the beta and then install the beta build of the app on their devices. Once installed, all you have to do is tap on the new chat option, and then, from the options that appear, select the ‘New AI Chat’ option.
You will then be presented with all available personas that you can choose from. We decided to go for the stock persona, and then you are taken to the chat window, where you are given some topics to sort of break the ice with the assistant. From there, it is you and the AI, make merry!!
