WhatsApp's Sneaky New Feature Could Transform How You Chat
Read in other languages:
WhatsApp is not only popular for personal chats, but it also works great for groups. There are times when catching up on unread messages can be daunting, especially if you have large piles of unread chats or have been away for too long. Meta now has a fix for this through AI message summaries, saving you precious time while getting the most important information.
- Also read: How to use WhatsApp on multiple devices
Catch Up on Chats Through a Bulleted Form
Meta has announced that it is rolling out the "Private Message Summaries" feature on WhatsApp. Basically, it's a new AI-powered feature that gives users the option to summarize unread conversations or threads in a chat, with the tool presenting an easy-to-digest bulleted summary.
Once you have the feature, it appears when you tap on the unread messages count pop-up in chats, showing you a "Summarize privately" action. Subsequently, you'll get a few lines of summarized messages that you can then dismiss. This is particularly useful for highlighting the most important messages, especially in long conversations and group chats.
More importantly, you can summarize the chats without notifying the other party that you've done so. They will only receive read receipts once you start scrolling through the unread messages.
WhatsApp's AI-powered summarized messages are turned off by default, requiring users to enable them first if they wish to use the feature. It can also be customized to exclude certain chats. If you want to enable it, you'll need to go to the app's settings and then navigate to Chats > Private Processing.
Use AI Features While Your Messages Are Safe
This new tool is powered by the AI model that Meta showcased a couple of months ago. However, the more interesting part is the innovation behind it to bring enhanced user privacy and security for your data, in addition to end-to-end encryption.
As explained in the press release, Private Message Summaries uses the "Private Processing" capability to access messages in your chats and provide you with AI context without Meta or WhatsApp actually reading the content. This means your messages are safe from AI and will not be used for instances like AI training.
Meta also provided a thorough explanation and guide on the technicalities of Private Processing in a separate blog post and white paper.
Initially, Private Message Summaries is rolling out first to iPhone and Android users in the USA and supports the English language, but Meta says it plans to add more countries and languages soon.
Have you ever experienced an instance where you just clear unread messages without reading them? What do you think of this new WhatsApp feature? Let us know your answers in the comments.
Source: Meta
