WhatsApp rolls out AI-generated summaries for private messages
It’s like a TL;DR for your group chats.
Most times, I open my WhatsApp and just close it immediately because of the load of unread messages I’m met with. I do want to read them, but there’s the fatigue plague. Now, for people like me who are too tired to read bulk messages, Meta just rolled out a new feature powered by AI that might just help with that.
Called Message Summaries, the feature lets Meta AI quickly generate a short recap of your unread messages in any chat. It’s like a TL;DR for your group chats, and the company says it’s all done without compromising your privacy.
You’ll notice a small icon in your chat indicating that a summary is available, but no one else in the conversation will know you used it. And it’s completely optional, so if you’re not a fan of AI, you don’t have to turn it on.
Right now, it’s only available in English and rolling out to users in the U.S., but Meta plans to expand it to other regions and languages later this year.
If you’re skeptical about privacy, Meta says this isn’t some backdoor into your conversations. The tech behind it, private processing, ensures that neither Meta nor WhatsApp can see your messages or even the summaries themselves.
Oyinebiladou Omemu
The summaries are generated through a confidential virtual machine in the cloud, with data transmitted via Oblivious HTTP, which basically means the whole process is wrapped in an extra layer of encryption.
Until now, Meta AI on WhatsApp could answer questions or give context when tagged, but it couldn’t read messages. This new development changes that, but only slightly and very carefully.
To use the feature, go to Settings > Chats > Private Processing, where you can choose which chats you’d like to enable the feature for, or disable it entirely if you’re not comfortable.
This update feels especially timely, coming just as WhatsApp introduces ads and faces a ban from U.S. government-issued devices over data privacy concerns.
Oyinebiladou Omemu
