In Europe, Meta will use public data from Facebook, Instagram and Messenger to train its AI

Meta AI, launched in Europe on March 20, has found a small place in the social media giant's services: Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and even WhatsApp have integrated the chatbot. But now, Meta needs to train its artificial intelligence model and will harvest public data from European users of its services (with the exception of WhatsApp).

Meta reads your public posts to train its AI

Comments and public posts will therefore be used to power Meta AI, “to understand the incredibly rich nuances and complexities that characterize European communities,” the company explains. “This includes everything from local dialects and expressions to hyper-specific knowledge, not to mention the different ways each country uses humor and sarcasm in our products.” Meta

Meta specifies that the AI model training excludes private messages with friends and family, as well as public data from users under 18. Likewise, it will be possible to refuse the collection (which remains activated by default). This is the purpose of the notification that users of Meta's platforms will receive within the week. It will include a link to a form, and Meta undertakes to respect the user's decision, which is the minimum.

The training carried out by Meta on its AI models is not specific to The company's approach is not exclusive to Europe, the group said. The company is using the same method it has been using since the beginning to train its generative AI in other regions of the world. "We are following the example of other players like Google and OpenAI, who have already used data from European users to train their own models." And Meta discreetly tackled: "We are proud to adopt a more transparent approach than many of our competitors in the industry."

Meta was forced to stop harvesting public data from its European users last year, in order to give regulators time to clarify the EU's position. In December, Meta obtained from the Committee European Data Protection Authority (EDPB) confirmed that its approach complied with legal obligations.

Source: Meta