Meta to restart AI training in UK using public user data

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced plans to resume training its artificial intelligence (AI) models in the United Kingdom using publicly shared content from adult users on its platforms. 

The company will utilise publicly available information, including posts, comments, photos, and captions from users over 18 years old, to enhance its generative AI models.

Meta clarified that the AI training will only involve data from adults and assured that no information from users under the age of 18 will be used. 

The company emphasised, "We’re building AI at Meta to reflect the diverse communities around the world and we look forward to launching it in more countries and languages later this year."

The decision follows a pause on AI training in the European Union after the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) ordered Meta to halt the rollout of its AI assistant in the region due to data privacy concerns. 

Meta asserts that its data usage complies with user consent policies and offers an opt-out option for those who do not wish their data to be used for AI development. 

Users in the UK will soon receive in-app notifications explaining Meta’s data practices and providing an option to object to the use of their data.

"We won’t contact people who have already objected as we’ll continue to honor their choice," Meta stated. 

"We’ll honor all objection forms already received, as well as new objection forms submitted."

The DPC, which oversees the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance, has been closely monitoring AI data practices. 

Recently, it launched an investigation into Google Ireland Limited to evaluate whether it adhered to EU data protection laws while developing its AI model, PaLM2. 

Similarly, social media platform X has agreed to cease using personal data from EU and European Economic Area (EEA) users to train its AI chatbot, Grok, following a separate investigation by the DPC.