Meta to start training its AI on public data of Facebook, Instagram users in UK

Meta confirmed on Friday that it will begin training its artificial intelligence (AI) models on public data from Instagram and Facebook in the UK. The company first planned to use this data three months ago, however, the plan was put on hold due to regulatory concerns. However, the social media giant confirmed that it has now received approval to proceed with AI training. The company claimed that this would enable AI models to more accurately reflect the cultures of British users.

In the newsroom post, Meta highlighted that it had previously halted plans to train AI models with user data in the UK, due to concerns from the country’s regulatory authorities over what could be done once it was collected. How the data will be used and how users can opt out of it. However, it claimed the company was “engaging positively” with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and resuming the scheme. Meta said it will begin training its AI with this data in the coming months.

The social media giant claimed that the reason it trained Meta AI on this data was to better reflect British culture, history and idioms when people interact with AI. Furthermore, it added that the tech giant aims to reflect diverse communities around the world through training on local user data.

Highlighting how the company will collect data, Meta clarified that it will not collect information from users under the age of 18 in the UK. Private data such as messages sent to friends and family will also not be used to train the AI. “We will use public information – such as public posts and comments, or public photos and captions – from adult users’ accounts on Instagram and Facebook,” it says.

Starting next week, adult users based in the UK will start receiving notifications on Facebook and Instagram explaining what and how Meta is trying to do. Additionally, the notices will also explain how users can access the objection form to prevent Meta from using their data to train Generator AI models. Those who have already objected to this will not receive any notification and their data will not be used.