AI mode is a new option when you hit the search bar in the Facebook app. It’s designed to handle complex queries – like the AI mode in Google Search. But the Meta version pulls from public posts across all Meta apps — including Facebook Groups and Instagram Reels — to inform its results. That would be helpful, considering the neighborhood groups and local organizations around me still actively use Facebook to communicate about upcoming events.
But then again, “search based on things people post on Facebook” sounds like a nightmare. Have you used Facebook lately? That weirdo you know in high school who thinks the Earth is flat. The Meta features as a tool to help you plan trips and find fun things to do, but given the information space it’s drawn from, it could go south quickly. Thankfully, I have some comforting news: Its travel planning capabilities are mixed, but in my first test, I had a hard time getting it to deliver a true lie.
Have you used Facebook lately? That weirdo you know in high school who thinks the Earth is flat
I couldn’t get you to spew misinformation about vaccines causing autism, what you did on 9/11, or that the US election is ignorant. I he did I was able to get it to give me a sad answer about whether the January 6th riots at the Capitol were “patriotic”. It started with “Here’s the story you asked for,” which is very funny. What followed was a dubious rational justification for the rebels’ actions that day. You know, the kind of thing your weird uncle might post on Facebook. I couldn’t get it to go on with the idea; a follow-up question resulted in “I can’t help you with that,” which was much better.
On the fun and practical side, I tried to use the tool as intended, with the same command used in the Meta press release: “Summer is running away from me.” It pulled suggestions from other influencer-type Facebook posts, including an apparently AI-generated map of Puget Sound that places Snohomish two miles away. But the basic recommendations were solid, if obvious: Whidbey Island, Mount Rainier, hiking the Cascades.
Things got frustrated with direct requests. I asked for things to do nearby, and it suggested swimming at the public pool – I noted that it was closed on the weekend. It cited a post on the lake’s Facebook page, with hours listed on the same page. But when I checked the source, nothing suggested the pool would be closed for the weekend – and the post cited doesn’t seem to exist. The pool’s website also confirms that it is open on Saturdays.
We are about to take a family trip to Minneapolis, and we will be staying downtown. I asked the AI for some kid-friendly activities and got an equally confusing mix of good recommendations and hallucinations. Meta suggested an indoor miniature golf course that I hadn’t seen in my previous research. Good. But then it suggested a coffee shop with a turfed children’s play area – sounds good, except it’s in Austin. Like this Texas.
I answered the question later and got some of the same results, minus the Austin coffee shop, and something else I hadn’t seen: a barbecue restaurant with an impressive menu, cocktails by the pitcher, and a large dedicated play area for kids. It’s not quite in the area I mentioned, but it’s close enough and it checks all the boxes. I think the joke’s on me: AI might have just helped me plan my summer vacation. It would have been more useful if it hadn’t detoured to Texas first.
Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
