This is a big deal. Meta AI, a powerful AI assistant, is now available right inside WhatsApp for anyone to use for free.
For those of us in Zimbabwe, and likely much of Africa, this marks the first time a generative AI tool is accessible to everyday people.
When you spend your time consuming tech content for a living, it’s easy to forget the gap between tools you use regularly and those available to the average person.
Since yesterday morning, when Meta AI became available inside WhatsApp for anyone using the most recent update, ordinary people in Africa, and elsewhere in the world, are experiencing generative AI for the first time. It’s a mind blowing experience that gives you the sense a massive shift has just happened. Even when you can’t quite put it in words, you know things have changed. There’s now a distinct ‘before AI’ and ‘after AI’.
What is Meta AI?
Let’s cover the basics. Meta is a Artificial Intelligence assistant that will now be available within WhatsApp and other Meta platforms like Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and directly on the web at meta.ai.
Think of Meta AI as a chatty, super helpful friend. Meta AI answers questions using artificial intelligence as if you were chatting with a person. It can answer questions, help with writing, generate ideas, provide support with learning new skills, whip up recipes, offer creative design input, and much more. It will even just be a supportive friend if that’s what you need. In fact, an AI will proof read this article before I hit publish.
To get the most out of it, people will have to learn to frame their questions well, sort of the same way people learned to enter more effective keywords into Google Search. It’s an “asking skill” people are calling “prompt engineering.”
ChatGPT, Gemini are elite
ChatGPT, when I used it for the first time after it’s 2022 launch, felt like miracle technology. It was just unbelievable that a computer, like a human, could understand my language and just be helpful.
But it was for the tech elite. ChatGPT could not be used in Zimbabwe for several months after it launched. You needed a phone number from a supported country. Mine was a South African number I got for ChatGPT.
Google’s Bard was released for the first time in March 2023 but it too was for people who knew to look for it. For developers sampling it to generate code, students seeking assignment help. Office employees motivated to get help with emails and and reports. In short, it catered to those who actively use the web.
But as most people that will read this will know, in Africa, the web is not the most used internet. People primarily access the internet through WhatsApp and Facebook thanks to app-specific data bundles offered by mobile internet providers. You pay, say, $7 a month for 1.5GB of WhatsApp only.
Beyond the niche status of the open web in Africa, both OpenAI and Google charge for their latest AI technology. Essentially, the free versions of ChatGPT and Gemini available online aren’t as powerful as those reserved for paying customers who have to fork out $20 a month.
Meta AI changes this
At least according to Meta itself, its AI is as powerful as the stuff that OpenAI and Google charge for. Meta is making its latest staff available to anyone right inside WhatsApp without needing to pay a cent.
Built with Meta Llama 3, Meta AI is one of the world’s leading AI assistants, already on your phone, in your pocket for free.
Meta’s press announcement
With Meta AI, the vendor selling tomatoes on the roadside has access to it via WhatsApp. The grade 7 student in Mkoba can use their parent’s WhatsApp for AI help with homework. The school leaver turning their bedroom and old laptop into a recording studio, can explore their creativity with AI.
The small scale sugar cane farmer in Honde Valley has access too. Or do they? Yes, they have access to WhatsApp and can ask Meta AI about the weather, and the crop varieties… but they’ll have to do so in English.
Can Meta AI speak Shona?
Access is one hurdle. There’s the language one as well. Even with access to this technology, users who don’t speak English will still struggle to benefit from it. My brief tests showed that Meta AI cannot handle basic, everyday Shona.
I greeted it and it assumed I wanted Shona translations. Even specifically for a Shona conversation didn’t yield a Shona response.
I get it, to be honest. Shona is spoken by less than 10 million people in a world of 8 billion. Perhaps it makes sense to encourage the adoption of more widely-spoken languages like Swahili. I’m not an expert in language politics, but clearly, even with the major shift Meta AI represents, many will still be left out.
I’m no expert at language politics of course. My point really is that a lot of people will still be left out even with this massive shift that Meta AI brings in its wake.
Who knows, maybe model training for even the most niche languages will happen soon too. And maybe a local startup is already onto this problem.
43 comments
I have been playing around with it and using it since it became available for use… I have used it and comparing it to OpenAI ChatGPT, Google Gemini (formerly Google Bard), Microsoft Copilot. It’s good just as the other ones…. The fact that it’s coupled in Whatsapp its a nice feature and well thought launch…. I can use it with my regular WhatsApp bundles that’s nice….I did asked it some recommendations and it gave me close to what other guys gave me….
I Asked it “can you suggest Best coding books”.
And it gave me this
Here are some of the best coding books for programmers ¹ ²:
– *Clean Code*: This book is great for beginners and teaches how to write good, clean code.
– *The Mythical Man-Month*: This book is a must for software developers and discusses Brooks’ Law, which states that adding more people to a late software project only makes it later.
– *The Pragmatic Programmer*: This book is a classic and teaches programmers how to be pragmatic and flexible.
– *Design Patterns*: This book is great for learning how to create more flexible, elegant, and reusable programs.
– *Code*: This book is great for beginners and teaches the basics of computer programming.
– *Programming Pearls*: This book is great for learning how to solve coding problems and think like a programmer.
– *Algorithms to Live By*: This book is great for those interested in psychology and computer science and shows how algorithms can be applied to everyday life.
– *Think Like a Programmer*: This book is great for beginners and teaches how to think creatively and solve problems.
– *Introduction to Algorithms*: This book is a classic and covers many different types of algorithms.
– *Peopleware*: This book is great for those interested in team productivity and communication.
– *Soft Skills*: This book is great for software developers and covers all the soft skills they need to excel in their careers.
– *Rapid Development*: This book is great for those interested in time management and efficient workflow.
– *Coders at Work*: This book is great for those interested in the craft of programming and features interviews with accomplished software developers.
I asked it to help me with building a parallax feature on a website and it gave me good code…. It gave me the the html, css and the JavaScript…. It was good …. I even went further and asked it to give me the same code in react and it did…. So it’s nice that I have something that I can use within WhatsApp
You.com coupled free AI in WhatsApp longtime ago. Its as simple as adding +1(585)496-8266 as a contact and start chatting with You.com genuine powerful free AI.
That’s a welcome development. As for us in the food and beverage industry we will definitely use it to access new recipes & other awesome ingredients
I think all telecoms companies have to increase the Mb in the cheapest WhatsApp data bundles they offer ,becoz all of these great features that the WhatsApp guys are adding require more data .The cheapest monthly WhatsApp bundle will not last you a month anymore with the new cool stuff WhatsApp is offering chanels, ai etc. The Mbs were designed for time that is maybe 10 years ago
Mmmm these features requires data yoooo
Especialy the channel thing omg
At first my montly data deplited in 2 days
How do I use it via WhatsApp
use the latest version of WhatsApp and you’ll see a blue ring icon… tap and proceed
What about those gb users will i be able to make a gb whatsapp of my own
Google is in trouble, no need to visit google to search things
Serious trouble
Google and YouTube still have their use cases. They won’t be dying any tine soon…
How do i access Meta on my whatsapp . i can’t find the prompt on whatsapp
You have to be using WhatsApp (meta) not WhatsApp Business….. If the blue circle or ring not appearing then probably you need to first update your WhatsApp and it will automatically appear just above the contacts floating action button
Thanks for clarification
Awesome tech, wonderful, a real great stride in the technological front. AI is the way, and is the way forward.
Mind you Shona is a combination of karanga, Zezuru and Ndau dialects what you got might have been any of these you where just expecting a Zezuru response
The other dialects are just that – dialects. not different languages
When was the update released?
Meta really done it this tym it makes super sense to have a chat ai within the world’s largest chat app, it’s super convenient no need to go on the Web like how we used to, it’s user base will sky rocket for sure
Pese apa no one is speaking about privacy and the fact that it can now harvest your conversations leagally so basically if it is free you are the product, be careful with this tech guys not all progress is good progress if it costs you your privacy.
It’s always true “IF YOU ARE NOT BUYING THEN IT MEANS YOU ARE THE PRODUCT”, watch a documentary that is called , THE SOCIAL DILEMMA” by Netflix.. the section of Meta AI and your chats are separate it’s just that they have been housed in one app…. If you have used Gemini, copilot, openAI ChatGPT.,did they harvest your chats ? Only your interaction with the AI is used for QUALITY, TRAINING AND EVALUATION PURPOSES, and let me tell you now adays the safest way of chatting is hand written letters… It’s difficult to hack hand written letters (tsamba)…. So I think you must take that avenue and leave 21st tech and go back to cave man ages…. If you have been using WhatsApp…. I want you to check and compare your Facebook wall and the chats you have had in Whatsapp… If there were any products or anything you mentioned in your chats you will see adverts similar to those things in your chats… Look and see for yourself….. The only part you don’t have to worry is only that me or any1 can’t access your chats… But meta can and will always do….. Hanti Waka baya pakanzi “I AGGREE TO TERMS & CONDITIONS”…
It’s true these tech. advancements always come at a prize: a compromise on our privacy, there is a marked erosion of confidentiality and we are almost always under scrutiny and script surveyilence. Telemetry!
Kkkkkk the world is shrinking on a massive scale and theres nothing you can do about it…. absolutely nothingas regards tech, the adage would be true you can run but you cant hide… metaphorically of course … welcome to the 21st century ladies and gentlemen…. we will never win this war 😔 we live in glass houses now .. total isolation is becoming non-existent we accept we adapt but ome of our nitty gritties will still be private . … another word from the wise would be we cant know everything . … newer ways to hide will become evident . . Give it time .. give it time my boy …. history will repeat itself
You are so right, the level of privacy violation that is going to happen with this feature is alarming. There is need for the AI to contact a third party to respond, personal info yevanhu has gone for sale full time now
It does not access your other chats. For instance, you cannot ask it to give you the number your mother sent you last year or how many of your contacts wished you happy birthday last month. It all has to be in the conversation you are currently having.
The ability to sort through and structure tens of thousands of disparate chats would be a dope feature.
I would give up my privacy for this capability.
I’m with you there. I’ll be honest, the only reason I knew this was because it was the second thing I tried with the AI😂 I think it’s coming though. Other android manufacturers will be shipping with Google’s AI chip next year so there may come a day when those chips are good enough to process such tasks locally on your device, meaning apps like WhatsApp won’t have the privacy barrier anymore.
Netone irikubirira vanhu.. 1000mb isn’t 1gb… 1gb is 1024mb…. We want our 24mbs that we usually being cheated of.
Haaa zvaizvezvi netone iri kudzvanya vanhu especially pama bundles e Zig apo ummm kuita kuponda vanhu
We have already placed their sim cards on shelves to accumulate dust as they have created a huge gap in pricing in affordability.We had to switch to Econet or Telecel for now.Yadhura mhaai
Even data ravo rakupera fast kunge reEconet, kudhara raigara.
There are two systems here:
The conventional
1000 bytes are 1 kilobyte (Kbyte),
So 1 gigabyte =1 000 000 000 bytes
The IEC
1024 bytes are instead 1 kibibyte (Kibyte) for which 1 Gibyte = 1 073 741 824 bytes.
AI is improving the world.Thats great
It is still only partially rolled out, friend of mine didn’t have it available in his country. Probably a combination of load scaling and unclear or hostile Ai legislation. The image generation is really good. Be ready for some nonsense in your groups and forwards to accompany those strange tips or stories. It’s not terrible at writing, but amongst the FAANG bots I’ve tried, Gemini and Copilot are better
Hope this will work
Is this option available for everyone or its still selected just as WhatsApp Business Channels column?
Poe.com is also popular in Zimbabwe. When you were using other countries’ details in order to sign up for open AI’s chatGPT , poe was wide open to us . Now poe.com , has integrated chat GPT 3 and chat GPT 4. In a nutshell , they is always a way to kill the cat.
Do l use data bundle or Whatsapp bundle to use the ai
Seven
Meta AI encompasses advanced features like self-learning algorithms, which continually improve AI models based on performance feedback. It integrates meta-learning capabilities, allowing AI systems to adapt and optimize their own learning processes. Regarding the yellow heart on Snapchat, it likely refers to a symbol used within the Snapchat app to denote a close friendship or strong bond between users. This symbol holds significance within the platform’s social dynamics and communication features, possibly triggering discussions on user behavior analysis, sentiment analysis, or the evolution of digital symbols in social contexts within the realm of Meta AI research.
Ndrikuona people varichema kuti these AI tools will harvest our information, YOU IWEWE MUNHU WEKU CHECHECHE KUBIRWA INFO YAKO WITH A MULTI BILLION DOLLAR CORPORATION LIKE META PLATFORMS, COME ON GUYS
Mukati techzim pane chaisina kumboshandisa here kkkkk
Dear L.S.M Kabweza,
Your article on the integration of Meta AI into WhatsApp and its implications for accessibility and inclusivity in Africa’s digital landscape is both insightful and thought-provoking. You’ve done an excellent job of highlighting the significance of this development and the potential it holds for everyday users across the continent.
The accessibility of Meta AI directly within WhatsApp marks a significant shift in the democratization of AI technology, allowing ordinary people to experience the benefits of generative AI for the first time. Your comparison with previous AI models, which were often inaccessible to the average user, effectively illustrates the magnitude of this change and its potential to bridge the digital divide in Africa.
Furthermore, your discussion on the language barrier underscores an important aspect of inclusivity in technology. While the availability of Meta AI within WhatsApp is a step in the right direction, the lack of support for local languages such as Shona highlights the challenges that still need to be addressed to ensure that all users can fully benefit from these advancements.
Your article serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of considering diverse perspectives and linguistic diversity in the development and deployment of AI technologies. It prompts important discussions around accessibility, language representation, and inclusion in the digital age.
Thank you for bringing attention to these critical issues and for advocating for greater inclusivity and accessibility in Africa’s digital ecosystem.
Warm regards,
[Iqra Technology]