WhatsApp Has Found Another Way to Introduce AI Into Your Chats
Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has been adding more and more AI features to its apps lately, whether you asked for them or not. WhatsApp in particular has gotten a lot of attention from Meta in the AI department lately, with the addition of a dedicated Meta AI button in the app and a search bar that’s also the place to ask Meta AI to generate a text, tip, or joke. The company continues to push AI into the heart of WhatsApp, as it’s now added an additional feature that lets you summarize your conversations in the app .
WhatsApp calls this feature Message Summaries , and it’s currently rolling out in the U.S. in English. Once it’s available to you, you’ll be able to access it via the Summarize privately button at the top of your chat. The company says it’s designed to help you keep track of tons of messages without having to read every single one.
In theory, this is a good idea. If you’re a member of group chats, you know that some of them can get completely out of control. I’m in a few of these groups where people post nonstop during Apple events, sports games, or when we want to discuss a funny topic. There have been times when I’ve woken up to hundreds of unread texts, and I don’t always have the time or energy to go through each one myself. That’s when WhatsApp’s AI summaries could help.
In practice, however, there are some legitimate accuracy and privacy concerns here. First, as with all AI, there’s always the risk of hallucinations , so you may want to double-check your summaries anyway. As for privacy, while WhatsApp is known to have end-to-end encryption, Meta’s AI features haven’t had the same level of security so far. Given the company’s long history of collecting user data , as well as surprises like the recent move to add ads to WhatsApp , it’s natural to be skeptical.
But if it matters, Meta says the Message Summaries feature doesn’t allow it or WhatsApp to see your messages or the summaries that Meta AI generates. “Message Summaries uses Private Processing technology that allows Meta AI to generate a response without Meta or WhatsApp ever seeing your messages or private summaries. No one else in the chat can see that you’ve summarized unread messages either,” the company said in a blog post announcing the feature. You can read more about how Private Processing works on Meta’s engineering blog and whitepaper .
It’s also worth noting that this feature isn’t enabled by default. Unfortunately, it also doesn’t seem to be processed on-device, which would be even better for your privacy as it would mean no information leaves your phone, but it would also limit the feature to devices powerful enough to run it.
However, I’m still skeptical until I try it myself. If you’re like me, you have options. You can block someone from using Meta AI in your WhatsApp chats by tapping on a contact or group name, selecting Advanced Chat Privacy , and turning on Advanced Chat Privacy . Unfortunately, you’ll have to do this manually for each chat — there’s no easy way to turn off Meta AI entirely .
While WhatsApp’s Message Summary feature is already available in English in the US, Meta says it will roll out to users in other countries starting later this year.