Meta has been designing prototypes for chatbots that can
have humanlike discussions with its users, as the company attempts to boost its
engagement with its social media platforms, according to the report, citing
people with knowledge of the plans.
The Menlo Park, California-based social media giant is even
exploring a chatbot that speaks like Abraham Lincoln and another that advises
on travel options in the style of a surfer, the report added. The purpose of
these chatbots will be to provide a new search function as well as offer
recommendations.
The report comes as Meta executives are focusing on boosting
retention on its new text-based app Threads, after the app lost more than half
of its users in the weeks following its launch on July 5.
Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for
comment.
The Facebook parent reported a strong rise in advertising
revenue in its earnings last week, forecasting third-quarter revenue above
market expectations.
The company has been climbing back from a bruising 2022,
buoyed by hype around emerging AI technology and an austerity drive in which it
has shed around 21,000 employees since last fall.
Bloomberg News reported in July that Apple is working on AI
offerings similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard, adding that it has
built its own framework, known as 'Ajax', to create large language models and
is also testing a chatbot that some engineers call 'Apple GPT'. © Reuters