WhatsApp on Wednesday, June 25, announced that it will show users AI-generated summaries of their unread messages. The messaging platform shared an explanatory GIF on its blog to demonstrate how it could summarise a number of unread messages. Earlier, users were forced to read through all their unread messages in a chat, but with the new feature, they will get a personalised AI summary of the same. These summaries would be offered as bullet points.
“…We’re excited to introduce Message Summaries, a new option that uses Meta AI to privately and quickly summarise unread messages in a chat, so you can get an idea of what is happening, before reading the details in your unread messages,” WhatsApp said in its official release.
The feature has been rolled out in English to users in the US. However, WhatsApp said that it has plans to expand the feature to other countries and languages later this year.
Based on the GIF shared by WhatsApp, users can simply tap on the number showing the unread messages in a chat to get an instant summary from Meta AI. These summaries will only be accessible to the user, and they can opt out of it any time. It needs to be noted that the accuracy of these summaries is yet to be determined.
For the Message Summaries feature, WhatsApp claims that it is using a technology called Private Processing that allows Meta AI to generate responses without Meta or WhatsApp seeing any of a user’s messages. The platform assures that no one else in the chat will be able to see the summarised unread messages, ensuring that user privacy is maintained at all times. The Message Summaries feature is off by default, and a user can opt for them at will. They can even use Advanced Chat Privacy to select which chat can be shared for AI features.
Much ahead of the official announcement, WABetainfo, a website that tracks developments related to the platform, had speculated about the feature.
In the last few months, Meta has been integrating AI features into the popular messaging app to enhance the user experience. These features include the Meta AI button, the option to tag Meta AI in chats to ask questions or generate images while in the middle of a conversation. Both of these features are activated by default, and there is no way to deactivate the feature.
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Meanwhile, earlier this month WhatsApp made headlines after it introduced advertisements to the app. This was a move that the platform’s founders had disagreed with earlier. It remains to be known when the platform will roll out this feature and in what countries.
(This article has been curated by Purv Ashar, who is an intern with The Indian Express)
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