Meta reveals an intriguing ad idea: Talk back to ads, using AI

If you use Facebook or Instagram in the future, you might have a conversation with an ad. Literally, with your voice.

That's what Clara Shih, Meta's head of business AI, revealed at the HumanX conference in Las Vegas today.

Meta’s Clara Shih speaks on-stage at HumanX in an interview with Bloomberg’s Caroline Hyde.

Photo by Debra Aho Williamson

Here's the example she gave: Instead of clicking through to a website, users could chat with an ad, ask for recommendations, try on products virtually, and check out instantly.

The goal? Remove friction from the buying process - and though she didn't explicitly say this, keep transactions inside Meta’s platforms.

Shih didn't reveal a timeline for when Meta might launch this type of advertising, but it's a compelling glimpse into how Meta is thinking about infusing AI into the advertising UX.

And TBH, it's a lot more exciting to think about than the ad products (like sponsored listings) that we've seen so far from other AI platforms.

I am still waiting for the big aha in ad models for AI platforms - the revolutionary formats that advertisers will gravitate toward, like Google's Adwords, Facebook's ads that look like organic content or TikTok's creator-integrated formats.