As Meta tries to catch up in the AI race and drive engagement with its AI bot, the company announced Monday is rolling out new artificial intelligence features to Facebook that aim to change the way users find information, create content and interact with the platform.
The main update is “AI Mode,” a new way to search on Facebook that uses Meta AI to display responses pulled from public posts across the platform, including Groups and Reels. Instead of scrolling through search results, users can ask a question in plain language and get a synthesized answer based on what people are actually discussing.
This follows Meta’s silent launch last month of Foruma Reddit-style app that includes its own AI “Ask” tab, allowing users to ask questions and get answers from discussions taking place in Facebook groups.
Both AI mode and the forum’s Ask tab raise a familiar question: How reliable are the answers generated from public posts and group conversations? Because AI summarizes content from everyday users rather than vetted sources, there is a real risk of outdated or misleading information slipping through the cracks, a concern that has already been raised about Google’s own AI mode on Reddit.
Beyond search, Facebook also added editing tools that let users play with collage cutouts and transition effects for their video montages. Another new feature is AI-powered photo presets, which allow users to change their appearance with different clothing, hairstyles, and accessories.
Sports fans, for example, can virtually wear their favorite team’s jerseys by simply tapping the “Edit AI” icon in Stories and choosing “Wear It,” or go directly to their profile photo and select “Reshape Profile Picture with AI” and “Locker.”
These updates add to a growing list of AI features that Meta has included in Facebook in recent months. In February, the company presented animated profile pictures that bring photos to life: adding a wave or placing a virtual party hat on someone’s head. In March, Meta added an AI feature to Facebook Marketplace that automatically responds to buyers’ messages on behalf of sellers.
More recently, earlier this month, Facebook launched a AI Assistant for Creators that offers personalized suggestions, including the best times to post and summaries of what audiences are saying in the comments, based on the creator’s content and performance history.
Taken together, the flurry of launches points to a broader strategy: Meta wants Facebook’s AI tools to make the platform more useful and useful, while diversifying how it makes money. In addition to these feature releases, the company recently launched global subscription plans for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, starting at $3.99 a month, which unlock additional features, and more AI-related subscription tiers are reportedly on the way.
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