Meta brought AI to rural Colombia. Now students are failing exams

As much as I'd like to criticise Meta for this, the truth is, the company is just being reactive. Zuk's AI strategy has been driven more by FOMO than common sense. Why do I say that? Because while millions of people have been asking for years for an AI that can summarise their unread WhatsApp messages, what did they build? A chatbot.

They thought, "If we add a bot to WhatsApp, we'll become the most popular AI company in the world," without even stopping to ask how this helps users. (Which is something OpenAI and Anthropic do all the time)

That said, this is yet another perfect opportunity to call out Meta and its managers for their lack of empathy and common sense. They've got an incredible app and tool called GenAI, and billions of users. So why not use it for something good? Something that doesn’t involve feeding people junk all day, making them angry, polarising families and friends.

Why doesn't Lucia (or whatever their AI monster is called) act as a voice of conscience when someone gets upset on WhatsApp? Why not do the opposite of what Facebook usually does? Why not use GenAI to help people for once?

For example, imagine this conversation in a group chat:

Susan: "I think the school should ban smartphones, it's the only way for kids to focus and learn."

Dave: "It's dinosaurs like you and your thinking that are ruining our kids!!!!"

(And here's where the magic happens...)

Lucia: Hey Dave, Susan is raising a real issue and your reply doesn’t really add value to the discussion. Do you still want to send it? (Yes) (No)

Come on Meta. You have the tools and tech to improve relationships and make the world a better place. Use them.