WhatsApp launched this week a new artificial intelligence tool that promises to save time and make long conversations easier to read.
The resource, called “message summary”, is capable of automatically synthesizing the content of groups or individual chats, highlighting only the most relevant points.
The novelty arrives first in Portuguese for users in Brazil, before being implemented in other countries and languages.
So far the service has not been activated in any other countries in a stable manner, although there have been internal tests and limited experimental versions in English.
Meta, the company that owns WhatsApp, confirmed that the tool will arrive “soon” in other languages and regions, and the launch will be gradual over the next few days.
As reported by WhatsApp in an FAQ that was last updated on October 13, “Meta AI and some experiences are only available in certain countries, and may not yet be available to you, even if other users in your country have access.”
The languages in which, for now, the service can work are English, Indonesian, Portuguese and Spanish.
Meta says messages will remain encrypted
The feature uses a technology called private processing, which allows Meta AI — the company’s artificial intelligence system — to generate the summaries without WhatsApp or Meta itself having access to the messages.
The company guarantees that the content of conversations remains protected by end-to-end encryption (or end-to-end encryption), the same system that prevents anyone other than the participants from reading what was exchanged. The summary produced also remains encrypted and visible only to the user who requested it.
According to Meta, no messages are stored during the process, and the technology has been developed openly and verified by independent experts.
Furthermore, the resource is discreet: no one else in the conversation will see that the summary was generated, fully preserving the user’s privacy. The proposal is to help those who find themselves with dozens or hundreds of accumulated messages to catch up quickly, without having to go through each line of the conversation.
How to activate it
The use of artificial intelligence is deactivated by default. To activate it, the user must go to the chat settings and enable private processing.
It is also possible to limit the use of AI in the conversations themselves, activating the “advanced conversation privacy” option in each chat, which prevents the tool from being applied to those specific messages.
Meta states that the artificial intelligence functions in WhatsApp will follow three principles: free choice, to ensure that the use of AI is always optional; transparency, with clear information about when the technology is in action; and user control, allowing additional security settings in conversations considered more sensitive.
The company intends to gradually expand AI-based features in the app, while maintaining the focus on privacy and individual control.
Keep reading:
* Documents that you should never scan on WhatsApp: experts warn about security risks
* WhatsApp promises a new feature that could change “statuses” forever
* Username: the new WhatsApp feature to personalize your account
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