Artificial intelligence - Report: WhatsApp will enable personalized avatars in future
WhatApp will allow its users, as reported by tech portal WABetaInfo, to create Avatars of themselves using Artificial Intelligence in the future. This is possible "in any environment, from the forest to the universe," according to the portal, and is backed up with screenshots of preview versions of the WhatsApp application for Android smartphones.
In the new feature, it's not just about creating a new profile picture, but about a more comprehensive representation, such as a cowboy in a western town or a ballerina on the virtual stage of a ballet.
An Avatar is a graphic representation of a person or figure that functions as a virtual representative in the digital world. In the Metaverse, an Avatar represents the real person who created it and controls it.
To create a KI-Avatar in WhatsApp of oneself in the future, it will be sufficient to take one or more photos of oneself. Then, in a command line ("Prompt"), one writes in which role one wants to see oneself. The command is "@Meta AI imagine me..." ("Imagine me as ...").
Not available in Europe
However, the AI system of the WhatsApp parent company Meta is not yet available in the EU and therefore not in Germany. Therefore, this Avatar function will not be available here for the foreseeable future. Meta and the EU are arguing over how users must be involved in the use of their data for training the Meta AI. Meta assumes that an opt-out option is sufficient. The EU insists that Meta customers must be asked for permission in advance.
Report: No use of chat logs
According to the WABetaInfo report, no content from WhatsApp chat logs will be used for creating the Avatars. The KI-System only goes into operation upon receipt of the command "@Meta AI". "It's worth noting that Meta AI can't read other messages because the command is processed separately," the report states. The resulting image message is automatically split by the app to ensure that the user's privacy is always maintained. This function is optional and requires user consent. Users who want to use this function must manually activate it in their settings and take their setup photos first.
- Meta Platforms, the company behind WhatsApp, is currently developing an AI-powered Avatar feature for its Android app, as reported by specialist portal WABetaInfo.
- This technological innovation in information technology could potentially revolutionize how users represent themselves in the metaverse, a virtual world within information technology.
- While this feature is not yet available in Europe due to ongoing data protection disputes between Meta and the EU, it has generated interest worldwide, especially in the USA.
- In this feature, users can create detailed Avatars of themselves using AI, which can then be used in various digital environments, such as a cowboy in the metavers or a ballerina on a virtual stage.
- To create an Avatar in WhatsApp, users simply need to take one or more photos of themselves and use the command "@Meta AI imagine me..." to specify their desired role.
- Even though the AI system is not yet available in Europe, Meta Platforms has emphasized that no content from WhatsApp chat logs will be used to create these Avatars.
- The use of the Avatar feature is optional and requires explicit user consent, ensuring that user privacy is always prioritized.
- Beyond WhatsApp, Meta Platforms has also shown interest in the field of telecommunications and the internet, with rumors suggesting potential plans to expand into the metavers and introduce advanced AI capabilities, such as voice and facial recognition, for its Avatars.
