Sitting in front of a computer screen, I’m typing messages to a new chatbot created by Facebook parent company Meta.We talk about pizza, politics and even social media.”What do you think about Facebook?” I ask.”Not crazy about facebook.. Seems like everyone spends more time on facebook than they do talking face-to-face anymore,” the bot replies. Oh, the irony.Called BlenderBot 3, the artificial intelligence-powered bot is designed to improve its conversational skills and safety by conversing with humans. Meta is publicly releasing the chatbot on Friday as part of an AI research project. US adults can converse with Meta’s new chatbot about mostly any topic on this public website. The AI uses searches of the internet, as well as memories of its conversations, to compose its messages.BlenderBot provides its thoughts about Facebook. Screenshot by Queenie Wong/CNET Chatbots are software that can mimic human conversations using text or audio. They are often used in voice assistants or for customer service. As people spend more time using chatbots, companies are trying to improve their skills so that conversation flow more smoothly. Meta’s research project is part of broader efforts to advance AI, a field that grapples with concerns about bias, privacy and safety. Experiments with chatbots…
Read More









