According to a report by Metro, mobile application developer Teja Karlapudi listed an Instant Pot air fryer for $75 on Facebook Marketplace earlier this month. ' However, he later discovered that the AI had sent a message to an interested buyer that read, 'I still have it. ' which he did not send.
Karlapudi realized Meta's built-in virtual assistant had responded with the free offer four hours later because his phone was on do not disturb. He replied to the buyer explaining it was Meta's AI-generated text and that the item was available, but the buyer never replied. Karlapudi believes the buyer thought he was a scammer or spammer due to common spam/scam on Facebook Marketplace.
I still have it. Want it for free?
He noted that he has turned on the AI feature for other listings, and it replied correctly except for this one instance. Karlapudi did not report the rogue message to Meta, emphasizing it was a suggested reply he did not type himself. Metro reports that the incident was caused by a bug that Meta has since patched.
Meta has added an AI function to Facebook Marketplace that automatically replies to common questions like whether an item is still available. The company has also added two other AI-driven features to Facebook Marketplace: one to make listing items for sale faster and easier, and another to streamline the delivery process. Additionally, Meta has added a function to Facebook Marketplace that makes it easier for buyers to get more information about the seller's account.
Usually, the most common question that people ask on Facebook Marketplace is, 'Is this available?'
Some Marketplace users have been offered a way to write a customizable auto-response to certain buyer questions since January. Meta is gradually introducing AI auto-replies for Instagram, where a virtual personal assistant responds to certain chats on behalf of content creators. Such AI-generated messages on Instagram are labeled as being generated by the AI bot, made with Meta's AI Studio.
If I don't immediately respond, they might change their mind, so I thought Meta's new AI reply feature would help me respond quickly to those questions with 'Yes, its available, are you interested?' something like that. So I turned it on.
Sorry, that's Meta's new AI-generated text... Yes it is available.
I think they thought I'm some sort of a scammer or spammer. There is a lot of spam/scam in Facebook marketplace.
I have also turned it on for few other listings, and for those it did reply correctly. It went into this charity mode only for this one.
Your AI can answer common questions for you so you have time to connect with more people and your fans can get quicker responses.