Meta is developing artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots with differing personalities in a move designed to improve user retention, according to reporting from the Financial Times.
Prototypes have been in development, people familiar with the matter said, and the final products are expected to be released as soon as next month.
The finished chatbots, known as personas, are expected to be able to have ongoing human-like discussions with users. Users will be able to ask the chatbots for recommendations and search results.
One such persona tested in the prototype phase is a chatbot that speaks in the voice of former US President Abraham Lincoln, according to reports.
Crucially, AI chatbots could provide Meta with an enormous amount of user input on which to train its own AI large language model.
If users agree to the terms, it would also assuage legal concerns. On that point, ChatGPT maker OpenAI is being sued by a class-action lawsuit alleging data theft with its bots.
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