In the Q3 2023 earnings call last year, Mark Zuckerberg discussed using artificial intelligence to enable business accounts to manage purchase and support inquiries more efficiently. Fast forward to today, and Meta has rolled out AI-driven enhancements for the WhatsApp Business app. These advancements include facilitating the creation of click-to-WhatsApp ads and automating responses to common customer inquiries.
Zuckerberg unveiled these AI advancements at Meta’s Connect conference in Brazil. He emphasized that beyond developing consumer-facing bots, Meta aims to create AI agents to assist businesses in customer interactions.
“Our vision extends beyond just a single AI assistant; we aim to enable multiple AIs that serve varied purposes, especially for businesses. Any business should easily deploy an agent that interacts with customers, offers support, and aids in commerce,” Zuckerberg stated.
WhatsApp Business users can now utilize AI to develop Facebook and Instagram ads that initiate WhatsApp chats with their businesses.
Moreover, Meta is experimenting with AI-powered customer support features that automatically address routine catalog inquiries or frequently asked questions. This functionality is currently being tested with selected merchants in India and Singapore, with plans to expand to Brazil soon.
Meta emphasized that AI-generated messages will be clearly labeled so customers are aware that they are not interacting with a human representative.
Additionally, WhatsApp is exploring the use of AI to send targeted messages, reaching only a specific segment of subscribers rather than the entire customer base. The updated Ads Manager will now recommend potential audiences more likely to engage beyond order updates.
Various Meta business partners for the WhatsApp API, such as RelianceJio’s Inerakt, Tiger Global and Fidelity-backed Gupshup, and Peak XV and Shopify-backed Wati, already offer some of these tools through their WhatsApp-based customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. However, Meta is now providing these tools for free, aiming to attract merchants who may be reluctant to invest in additional services.
A joint report by Meta and Bain & Co. highlighted a significant potential to scale conversational commerce through generative AI-powered assistants. The report indicated that in markets like India, these tools could revolutionize consumer engagement, making interactions more multimodal, vernacular, and intuitive.
While Meta is offering these AI tools at no cost, it aims to drive revenue on the WhatsApp Business platform by increasing the volume of customer-business interactions. By introducing these new AI capabilities, Meta hopes to boost the quantity and quality of these conversations.
