WhatsApp users could soon AI-generate their own stickers

It’s said that a picture is worth a thousand words. We can’t say how much a WhatsApp sticker is worth, but soon you’ll be able to create a WhatsApp sticker of your own with just a few descriptive words. Yes, we’re talking about prompts. Yes, AI prompts.

WhatsApp users in the unspecified near future will get the wonderful opportunity to generate their own stickers through AI prompts. This creative feature is beta tested at the moment in WhatsApp version 2.23.17.14 (for Android). If you’re part of the Google Play Store beta program, but you didn’t get your hands on this particular version, don’t frown – WhatsApp is rolling it out very modestly, only to some preselected beta testers (via 9to5Google).

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? More like “Cat on a skateboard”

The world’s most popular messaging app is not sharing too much information right now on the new AI feature. There’s a page on WABetaInfo, dedicated to version 2.23.17.14 with a screenshot that shows off the AI feature in brief. Here it is:

As seen, there’s a new “Create” button on the interface just beneath the stickers tab. Tapping “Create” allegedly takes users to another app screen, where users can describe with few words what kind of sticker they want to get. This new tool should return a cute white cat, riding a red skateboard (all in anime style) when prompted with “Cat laughing on a skateboard”, as seen in the screenshot example above.

So far, there isn’t much clarity on the topic of what generative AI WhatsApp’s new tool is incorporating. Maybe DALL-E? Whatever it is, it’s your job to slap it back and report to Meta, if it goes rogue. If you consider a given generated sticker to be abusive, inappropriate or harmful, you can send a report to Meta.

The AI sticker feature is only available to a very limited group of beta testers on Android right now, and it’s “rolling out to even more people over the coming weeks”, as the source claims. Maybe iOS beta testers are next?