Meta has announced that it will start using public posts from Facebook and Instagram to train its artificial intelligence (AI) system, according to an official statement.
The development comes after Meta initially dropped its plans to use public posts from its social media platforms to train its AI models. The company halted the use of personal data for AI training citing “unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment”.
Meta will now use photos, comments, and captions to train its AI models, the company announced on Friday. The AI trainings will use data only from adults and Meta will not include private messages or other sensitive information from accounts belonging to users aged under 18.
Meta had put a pause to its AI ventures in Europe in June 2024, after the Irish regulator — the Data Protection Commission (DPC) — ordered the company to cease its operations involving the processing of personal data of users from public posts. At the time of halting its AI trainings, Meta had stated that the delay would also allow time for the company to address concerns on the same by Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
“Since we paused training our generative AI models in the UK to address regulatory feedback, we’ve engaged positively with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and welcome the constructive approach that the ICO has taken throughout these discussions,” says Meta in its recent statement.
The company will inform the consumers of its AI training practices by sending out notifications on Facebook and Instagram. The users will have the option to object to Meta’s AI training practices, the company added.
Last week, the European Union (EU) launched a probe into Google’s AI training practices. The investigation, launched by the Irish DPC, would assess whether Google’s AI ventures are in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The assessment of Google’s AI models intersecting personal data is being conducted as part of the DPC’s “wider efforts” regulate the data of citizens across the EU as development of AI systems advances rapidly in the region.
