Mark Zuckerberg pledges to fill Facebook and Instagram with even more AI slop

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, reports that a new AI-driven algorithm has led to a considerable rise in screen time among users.

Meta CEO 'Mark Zuckerberg.'

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In its latest quarterly results on Wednesday, the US tech giant reported an 8% rise in time spent on Facebook and a 6% increase in time spent on Instagram due to improved AI.

The survey did not specify how much more time the average user spent on social media sites, but the most current eMarketer estimates indicate that US individuals spend around 30 minutes each day on both Facebook and Instagram. Over the course of a year, this increased screen time amounts to between 10 and 15 hours.

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, stated during a Wednesday evening earnings call that he intends to introduce a new feed on Facebook and Instagram that would only feature AI-generated content.

"I think we're going to add a whole new category of content which is AI-generated or AI-summarised content, or existing content pulled together by AI in some way," said the engineer.

"And I think that that's gonna be very exciting for Facebook and Instagram and maybe Threads, or other kinds of feed experiences over time."

The increased time users spent online helped Meta smash analysts' quarterly profits predictions, exceeding revenue and profit forecasts.

The California-based corporation announced a third-quarter profit of $6.03 per share, above expectations of $5.25. Third-quarter sales was $40.59 billion, about half a billion dollars higher than expected.

Despite exceeding experts' expectations, the world's largest social media business saw its stock decline in after-hours trade.

Meta, which generates the vast bulk of its revenue from online ad sales, is investing substantially in AI in the hopes of increasing user engagement across its apps.

"I don't know if we know exactly what's going to work really well yet, but some things are really promising," Zuckerberg remarked during the earnings call.

"I have high confidence that over the next several years, this will be one of the important trends and one of the important applications."