US social media giant Facebook is looking to Chinese counterpart WeChat, run by Tencent, to offer an all-encompassing ecosystem, offering shopping, ads, news and chat within its Messenger service. Facebook's David Marcus believes the solution lies in artificial intelligence and chatbots, which can directly engage users on a personal level and, with Facebook's vast datasets, build bridges between brands and customers. The company has already begun testing bots that will help it target ads more effectively at specific demographics.
US social media giant Facebook is looking to Chinese counterpart WeChat, run by Tencent, to offer an all-encompassing ecosystem, offering shopping, ads, news and chat within its Messenger service. Facebook's David Marcus believes the solution lies in artificial intelligence and chatbots, which can directly engage users on a personal level and, with Facebook's vast datasets, build bridges between brands and customers. However, critics argue the current investigation into Russian hackers' use of Facebook demonstrates the need for caution when targeting users and attempting to influence behaviour.