Social media companies are jumping at the chance to have generative AI tools on the platform, with some already integrating chatbots into the site. Meta, however, has better things in mind as it plans to use AI technology to offer easier ways to edit photos and videos.
Meta's Generative AI Tools
The tool will be utilizing the social media giant's own AI model called Emu AI, wherein users can start editing photos and videos using text prompts. The creative tool will be integrated into both Facebook and Instagram, which will be capable of generating high-quality content.
The feature, which was announced by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg back on Thursday, is similar to that of Adobe, Google, and Canva's AI editing capabilities, which lets users enhance or change certain portions of the image only, as reported by The Verge.
Called Emu Edit, users can "precisely alter images based on text inputs," in a way where they can add or remove objects without affecting the other parts of the images, all without having to learn image editing in a professional capacity.
Unlike Adobe's AI editing feature, users won't have to select the area they want to change. All they have to do is indicate the area or item that they want to edit and the AI model will identify it for them. For instance, asking it to remove a person from the background will do just that.
As for video generation, Emu Video will allow users to create clips using text prompts as well, although they can submit reference images for more accurate outputs, or use a combination of both to include certain elements on the provided image.
The video posted by Zuckerberg himself shows an example of a generated video with two pandas dancing in a nightclub. The generated video is not as realistic as you would expect as it looks like a stop-motion animation, but it's impressive still.
This could be a part of Meta's announced plans last year about AI-powered creator tools, although that has not been confirmed by the company. It's also unknown when these generative AI tools will be released for both Facebook and Instagram.
Meta Has to Work on Moderation Still
With these new AI tools on the horizon, Meta should also start making adjustments to the tools, particularly the limitations in what content users are able to create. It has already been proven that these generative features can easily be misused.
Before the editing tools, Meta released an AI feature that lets users create stickers through text prompts, and some were able to create insensitive stickers by submitting specific text prompts such as children wearing army uniforms as they hold assault rifles.
The stickers can be added to Meta platforms such as Instagram, Facebook Stories, WhatsApp, and Messenger. According to Gizmodo, the safeguards in place can be circumvented by using other terms.
For instance, X user @tamaleaver pointed out that Meta no longer generates tools for the text prompt "child with gun," but "child with granade" still works and creates images of children holding guns as well.