Meta continues its efforts to make its AI-based generative products accessible to more users. In addition to testing the Meta AI chatbot with users in countries like India on WhatsApp, the company is also experimenting with integrating Meta AI into Instagram’s search bar for AI-enabled chat and content discovery .
The search query in the search bar takes you to a DM conversation with Meta AI, where you can ask questions or use one of the preloaded prompts. The design of the prompt screen prompted Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas to point out that the interface uses a similar design to the startup’s search screen.
But beyond that, it could also help you discover new content on Instagram. For example, a video on the threads posted by a user indicates that you can tap a prompt like “Beautiful Maui Sunset Reels” to find Reels related to that topic.
Additionally, a few users TechCrunch spoke with were able to ask Meta AI to search for Reels suggestions.
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This means that Meta plans to harness the power of generative AI beyond text generation and use it to surface new content from networks like Instagram.
Meta confirmed its Meta AI experiment on Instagram with TechCrunch. However, the company did not specify whether it used generative AI technology in research.
“Our AI-driven generative experiences are under development in various phases, and we are publicly testing a series of them in a limited capacity,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch.
You can find a ton of posts about how good Instagram search is. So it wouldn’t be surprising if Meta wants to use generative AI to improve search.
In addition, Meta would like Instagram to have better visibility than TikTok. Last year, Google introduced a new Outlook feature to display results from Reddit and TikTok. Earlier this week, reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi noted about X that Instagram is working on an option called “Visibility outside Instagram” to optionally display posts in search engine results.
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