If you’ve noticed a shift in your social media feeds recently, where you’re seeing content from creators you don’t follow or pages you’ve never “liked,” then you’re not alone. This change to your newsfeed is here to stay.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook, revealed during the company's first-quarter earnings call that more than 20% of the content in your Facebook and Instagram feeds is now recommended by AI from people, groups or accounts that you don’t follow. On Instagram, it's closer to 40%.
AI-powered recommendations have already made an impact, leading to a more than 24% increase in time spent on Instagram since launching the TikTok-rival short-video Reels in September 2021. This shift represents a long-standing commitment to using AI to transform the way people consume social media content, with Meta working on the technology for years.
This shift is no surprise to those who have been following Zuckerberg’s predictions. In 2022, he stated that 15% of feed content was AI generated and that the company expected these numbers to more than double by the end of next year. It seems Meta is on track to surpass this goal.
While AI-powered recommendations may be the present focus, Meta has its eyes set on another component of AI work — generative AI. In Zuckerberg's Facebook post, he explains that as the technology advances, it will allow people to express themselves more creatively and enable new forms of communication and collaboration.
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Despite concerns over the influence of AI on social media platforms, Meta posted better-than-anticipated first-quarter earnings results with profits of $2.20 per share, exceeding the expected $2.03 per share.
The Rise of AI
The prominence of AI has been a major talking point in tech companies’ first-quarter earnings calls, with every major company from Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to Spotify focusing on the technology.
The startups market has seen similar traction and rise to prominence. Some of the biggest raises on popular retail startup investing platforms like StartEngine and Wefunder are in AI. For example, AtomBeam previously raised $2.4 million on StartEngine. The company is also currently live on StartEngine, which means anyone can invest, and one of the top raises by funds raised on the platform. Atombeam uses AI to compact data by up to 75%.
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