Meta’s popular instant messaging service WhatsApp is reportedly beta testing a feature that would allow the already integrated Meta AI chatbot to edit and reply to images. The capability was spotted in the WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.14.20, with AI powered by Llama 3, the company’s newest large language model released in April. The beta version works via a camera button added to the text box for Meta AI chat in WhatsApp. When pressed, the button triggers a pop-up that indicates Meta AI can analyze and edit photos, though it’s currently unclear to what extent.

At minimum, it appears users can query Meta AI on things like image location and who or what is in the photo, according to a report that first appeared in the WhatsApp blog WABetaInfo.

Users will have privacy control options for the AI images, and Tom’s Guide advises of a disclaimer stating that the “images can be deleted at any time.” Tom’s points out that Llama 3 “is at least 7 times larger” than its predecessor, adding that it “promises to be much more efficient than rival ChatGPT-4.”

There is speculation that the new WhatsApp AI photo feature will integrate with Meta AI’s “Imagine Me,” which can generate personalized avatars based on text and image prompts. WABetaInfo spotted Imagine Me in beta with Android 2.24.13, currently available at Google Play.

The avatar feature will allow WhatsApp to “put an AI image of you virtually anywhere,” TechRadar writes. “This feature allows you to take photos of yourself once, then ask Meta AI to generate AI images of you,” TechRadar says a screenshot from the beta details.

Noting that WhatsApp recently added in-app AI-generated stickers users can fashion from text prompts, TechRadar suggests GenAI avatars would be “a major step” for Meta because “AI image generators provided by the likes of OpenAI and Google are usually very reluctant to create AI avatars of any real person, let alone one that can be used repeatedly.”

Tom’s says the question remains as to how or if Meta’s new AI features will function on iOS “after the recent news regarding Apple refusing to integrate Meta AI due to privacy concerns.”