Arr, ye scurvy dogs! Meta, the gallant crew, be unveilin' their grand Imagine platform, unleashin' their generative AI tech!
2023-12-07
Arr! This here AI be craftin' four fine images without cost, but beware! There be a wee bit o' restriction on what it can conjure, me hearties!
Google’s recent Gemini launch has been creating quite a stir, but amidst all the excitement, Meta has quietly introduced Imagine with Meta AI, a free-standing image generator website. This technology has been in development for some time, with WhatsApp already having a beta in-app image generator. Previously, access to this feature required Meta's app to be installed, but with Imagine, all you need is an email address. Simply enter a text prompt, and the AI will generate four JPEG images that can be downloaded.We had a go at using the website ourselves and discovered that it can create images featuring well-known cartoon characters like Homer Simpson and Mickey Mouse, despite potential copyright restrictions. However, the images do have noticeable flaws, with parts of the pictures melting into each other and characters looking bizarre. The technology behind Imagine is powered by Meta's proprietary Emu learning model, which was trained on over a billion images from public Facebook and Instagram posts. While Meta has implemented restrictions to keep the content family-friendly and prevent violence or sexual prompts, there are ways to bypass these limitations through indirect wording.Meta plans to introduce invisible watermarking for increased transparency and traceability, but this feature is still a few weeks away from release. Concerns about potential misuse have been raised, and Meta is expected to implement more protection in the future. In the meantime, you can explore TechRadar's guide to the best AI art generators for the year.Additionally, Facebook Messenger recently received a major update for enhanced privacy, and WhatsApp introduced an AI assistant to chats. Meta's data collection capabilities have also expanded with the release of Meta Quest 3 and Ray-Ban smart glasses.