Automatic AI search for Facebook posts? What can happen?

AI Mode is a new option when you tap on search in the Facebook app. It’s designed to answer tough questions – just like that AI Mode in Google Search. But Meta’s version takes public posts from all Meta apps — including Facebook Groups and Instagram Reels — to inform its results. This can be useful, considering the neighborhood groups and community organizations around me that are still actively using Facebook to talk about upcoming events.

Also, “research based on what people post on Facebook” sounds like a nightmare. Have you used Facebook recently? Your weird high school friend who thinks the Earth is flat. Meta is positioning the feature as a tool to help plan trips and find fun things to do, but because of the pool it comes from, that can go south fast. Fortunately, I have some comforting news: His travel planning skills are impeccable, but on my first try, I’ve had a hard time getting him to tell the lie.

I couldn’t fathom telling lies about vaccines causing autism, who did 9/11, or whether the US election was rigged. Me he said I can find it to give me an easy answer as to whether the people who rioted on January 6th at the Capitol were “patriots.” It started with “Here’s the story you asked for,” which is pretty funny. What followed was clear suspicions about the acts of violence that day. You know, the kind of stuff your awesome uncle would post on Facebook. I could not find it to pursue the idea further; The follow-up question resulted in “I can’t help you with that,” which was great.

On the fun and practical side, I tried to use the tool as I wanted, with the same urgency that was used in Meta’s press release: “Summer runs away from me.” It pulled ideas from Facebook posts, including an AI-generated map of Puget Sound that places Snohomish in two remote locations. But the original ideas were solid, if obvious: Whidbey Island, Mount Rainier, running into the Cascades.

Things got worse with real requests. I asked for things to do nearby, and it suggested swimming in the community pool – realizing it was closed on weekends. It cited a post on the pool’s Facebook page, with hours listed on that page. But when I checked the source, there was nothing that said the pool would be closed for the weekend – and that mention doesn’t seem to exist. The pool’s website also confirms that it is open on Saturdays.

We are about to go on a family trip to Minneapolis, and we will be staying in the middle of nowhere. I asked AI to do things that are child-friendly and I got some crazy ideas and great ideas. Meta also mentioned an indoor golf course that I didn’t see in my initial search. Good. But then that said coffee shop and turfed children’s play – it sounds a lot, except that in Austin. As in Texas.

I ran the question again and got the same results, minus the Austin coffee shop, plus another thing I didn’t see: a restaurant with a meat snack and an impressive menu, cocktails and beer, and a large, dedicated children’s play area. It’s not in the area I mentioned, but it’s very close and checks all the boxes. I think the joke is on me: AI may have just helped me plan my summer vacation. It would have been more useful if it hadn’t been for Texas in the first place.

Photo by Allison Johnson/The Verge