The Meta AI bot integrated into the company’s platforms – Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – can be used to perform searches and answer questions. A promotional page shows that it is possible to ask for recipes, generate images or create lists of popular songs to play on the guitar.
But it also has some users wondering how Meta’s AI systems use their data and what, if anything, they can do to evade this new feature.
Meta doesn’t list all the sources that train its AI models, but its privacy center says it uses information that is publicly available online or licensed. We also read that Meta uses information shared through its products and services, such as messages, photos and their captions.
Meta’s Privacy Center explains that the company does not use private messages exchanged between users to train its AI systems. If Meta’s AI systems use public information collected from the internet or with permission from other providers, they do not link this data to accounts. For example, if it uses a public blog post containing the name and contact details of an author, the company ensures that it does not subsequently link this content to the user’s Meta account. The company also says it did not train its core models – Llama 2, Llama 3 – on user data.
It’s possible. “Even if you do not use our products and services or do not have an account, we may process information about you in order to develop and improve AI at Meta,” the Privacy Center states. ‘business. “For example, this may happen if you appear anywhere in an image shared on our products or services by someone who uses them or if someone mentions information about you in posts or captions that they share about our products and services. »
Meta has a form available in its Privacy Center titled “Rights of Data Subjects of Third-Party Information Used for AI at Meta.” Users can fill out the form and select “I would like to delete any personal information from third parties that is used to build and improve the AI at Meta. » The giant says it does not automatically respond to requests sent using this form, but that it reviews them to see if they comply with local laws that could require it to delete your data from its AI training .
A Meta spokesperson, David Troya-Alvarez, was unable to say how many Canadians have successfully unsubscribed so far.
Brett Caraway, professor of media economics, believes that users may consider not using the platform at all, but he is aware that many people need the company’s technology for their work or interpersonal communication. “If you don’t want to or can’t do that, I tend to think you have to think carefully about what you post,” says Mr. Caraway, who has stopped using Facebook but maintains a inactive account. Rather than satisfying the urge to immediately post information on the platform, he recommends that people step away from their device and ask themselves if it is really necessary for this information to be posted on the platform and if they are ready for the company to eventually use them.
According to a Meta spokesperson, David Troya-Alvarez, “you cannot turn off [Meta AI], but you can search as you normally would to get a variety of results. » Although you can’t turn the feature off, you can mute it by tapping the blue Meta AI circle in your Facebook or Instagram search bar, then tapping the blue circle with an ‘i’ on it. interior. A mute button in the menu that appears next allows you to silence the robot.
Yes. According to its Privacy Center, Meta logs the messages you send it, the AI’s responses, and details about you so it can “continue the conversation.” “For example, if you tell the AI that you like Italian food, it will record that detail. So if you later ask what restaurants you might enjoy in New York, the AI should recommend Italian restaurants. »
Type “/saved-details” into your Meta AI chat window or visit your Account Center while logged in to Instagram and Facebook. To download the information to WhatsApp, you can also type “/download-all-ai-info” in a chat with your AI.
Type “/reset-ai” in individual conversations you’ve had with Meta AI in Messenger, Instagram, or WhatsApp. By doing this, Meta explains that you are essentially resetting the AI because the maneuver removes its copy of your messages and the previous context of the conversation. “You will still see your copy of the conversation with the AI, but it will not remember previous messages,” the company explains.