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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Polly Hudson

I can’t delete WhatsApp’s new AI tool. But I’ll use it over my dead body

Two vintage-style robots conversing with each other
‘The next logical step? Meta AI avatars of you and your friend meet up for a virtual night out.’ Illustration: Igor Sarozhkov/Alamy Stock Vector

There are five stages of grief, but only two stages of discovering the little Meta AI circle on your WhatsApp screen. Fear, then fury.

When I first saw the small blue-and-purple hoop last week, I was terrified that it meant I was now livestreaming my life to the entire metaverse, something I presumed I had agreed to when accepting but (of course) not reading the terms and conditions. As the saying goes, if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.

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