The Communications Ministry is in the final stages of developing a chatbot facility for the WhatsApp app to curb the spread of fake news.
Bernama reports that this collaboration aims to leverage Meta’s expertise in social media platforms and technology to effectively combat misinformation, according to Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
The development of the chatbot facility is currently facing several technical challenges. However, the ministry is committed to ensuring that the chatbot will be able to address all issues raised in various languages, including Malay and English.
Upon its launch, Fahmi said the chatbot will initially support several main languages. However, plans are in place to expand its language capabilities over time.
This expansion is made possible due to the chatbot’s foundation in artificial intelligence (AI), which allows it to learn and adapt to new languages.
WhatsApp is already working on its own chatbot
In April, there was a report that Meta is currently conducting trials to incorporate the Meta AI chatbot into the app for Android and iOS users.
The Meta AI chatbot provides suggested topics through the search bar or conversations and they are randomly generated and not influenced by user-specific data.
It’s important to note that the primary functionality of the search bar remains unaffected, allowing users to search for chats, messages, media, and contacts within the app.
At the time of writing, WhatsApp didn’t provide any update regarding this chatbot.
