Meta's AI Studio: Groundbreaking Tech or Will Leave Creators & Marketers Just 'Whelmed'?

It looks like Meta has just opened another portal into the metaverse. The company just announced it's launching the initial phase of AI Studio. A new cobblestone on the way to Mark Zuckerberg's immersive world that blurs the line between real and virtual.

These experiences are delivered by AI, which isn't surprising. And the fact that the digital creator community will be the first to access this tech. This is new and different, so let's see what we know about it, and is it something marketers should keep an eye on?

Introduction to Meta's AI Studio

In a YouTube interview, Mark Zuckerberg talked about AI Studio, its capabilities, and what we can expect in the future. The AI Studio lets Instagram creators build AI versions of themselves that can interact with fans in DMs. During his presentation, he showed some videos of creator-made chatbots. From an Instagram creator's Instagram page, you can tap the "Message" button to start a conversation. You can see at the top that the messages are generated by AI.

According to Mark, the main focus is answering fact-based queries, with the more challenging part being building creative answers that mimic the creator's style. Zuckerberg says creators can train their bots on different aspects of their social media presence, so they can make more lifelike replicas of themselves.

On the message tab, the AI bot will have a stars icon, so you'll know it's a bot, while there's also a disclaimer in the chat, so you'll know it's an AI bot. It comes with a caveat that says the AI might generate some inaccurate or inappropriate responses. It's interesting to see how all the Gen AI features and platforms now come with legal disclaimers. It's a sign that AI is still in its infancy despite being capable of handling complex tasks in a fraction of the time.

The possibilities with Meta's AI Studio…

As of now, AI Studio is being marketed as a content creator's assistant. Meta has identified 50 content creators to start with. The plan is to get more creators on board in the next few months. A big part of the push for this tool is giving content creators an AI agent to create a digital avatar of themselves with Meta Llama 3. Integrated with Meta AI, this multi-modal large language model lets creators deploy bots that answer their followers' DMs. Currently, the first use case is to respond to fact-based questions as I shared earlier. The tool will give content creators adequate control over the topics it can respond to. More tools and functionalities are being worked on and rolled out later.

Clearly, the idea behind this feature is about training the language model to learn personality traits, tone of voice, and quirks of the creators so they can engage with their audience more effectively. Mark Zuckerberg calls it as "UGC or user generated content type AI". At the moment, they're trying to make the avatar as human-like as possible and keep it labeled as AI to avoid confusion. The digital avatar could eventually become a 3D or holographic avatar, enabling a more immersive experience.

In the future, as it understands the creator better, it could also respond to followers' opinion-based messages in a way that reflects the creator's personality. Creators could use the tool to monetize their work as well. By using the multimodal capabilities of Llama 3, it could find objects in the creators' video frames, and people could buy them online. Meta already has this feature in its RayBan glasses, which they plan to bring to Instagram as well. It could also apply to all the organic posts made by creators on their Instagram feed.

Translators and dubbing capabilities could give content creators regional or even global reach. There's a possibility that this functionality comes from Meta AI and not specifically "AI Studio". Future versions could provide insight into topics people are asking about, which can lead to new content ideas. Of course, sentiment analysis of engagement and comment data can help with better content strategies.

... are endless but seem to be just 'whelming'.

The "AI Studio" is an improved Gen AI feature introduced on Instagram. Mark Zuckerberg called it a tool, and I agree. Meta has had a chatbot in its Messenger app and WhatsApp for a while. This tool seems to be an improved version of the chatbot with multimodal capabilities. I would not underestimate this multimodal functionality as it is what makes Meta's RayBan glasses a successful product.

A similar feature was announced by YouTube in the form of Comment Summary, which is still in testing and is waiting for a global rollout. A Conversational AI feature was also introduced that lets users ask relevant questions about the video they're watching. LinkedIn enabled AI features months ago. You can use features like it to parse through long articles, videos, and posts. Also, it will give you ideas about what you can do with the information.

In terms of achieving the holy grail of personalization, all these features and functionalities are promising. Additionally, they improve the overall user experience, generate meaningful data insights, and help with better content strategies. Meta's AI Studio will initially be available to digital creators, but eventually businesses and marketers will also have access to it. Among the most obvious use cases for B2C businesses are customer service, sentiment analysis, and creating engaging content. Sentiment analysis and generating new content ideas seem like the most likely uses for B2B businesses as well. But, that will happen when they get to access and test it out.

When I take a few steps back, I observe a pattern. A pattern of generative AI promising a billion things for creators, marketers, and businesses but underdelivering. Where's OpenAI's Sora? What's up with Copilot? What kind of value will Apple Intelligence be able to deliver? Take a look at Meta's "AI Studio" and Mark Zuckerberg's open-ended, non-committal vision and timeline for what it can become and do for creators and businesses.

Kudos to their marketing and PR teams for generating enough hype and excitement around AI features or products that pique the interest of people. It's understandable that AI is still in its infancy. However, there's a trend where amazing stuff is announced and showcased without anything to touch.

Is it an indication that tech companies can't steer AI in the intended direction as some experts have discussed in the media? Or is it just a way to keep stock brokers and investors happy? It's difficult to say. However, the bubble bursts soon when the awe-inspiring tools and their features don't see the light of day for months. That makes it harder to get budgets, resources, and buy-in especially from management in the case of marketers and businesses. Content and marketing strategies of forward-thinking business leaders, marketers, and creators are impacted by the indeterminate lead time between announcement and actual release. Eventually, this just might leave creators and marketers feeling just 'whelmed'.