Meta AI debuts across platforms raising privacy, bias concerns

[MARK ZUCKERBERG]

“Our goal is to build the worlds lead AI and make it available to everyone.”

[LAUREN TAYLOR]

AFTER MONTHS OF ANTICIPATION, META CEO FINALLY LAUNCHED IT’S AI CHATBOT. THE  ROLLOUT BRINGS META’S MOST ADVANCED AI TO EVERYDAY APPS IT’S SUITE OF APPS LIKE FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, MESSENGER, WHATSAPP, AND EVEN RAY-BAN SMART GLASSES, — BUT, IT’S RAISING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY’S CONTROVERSIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR DIGITAL INTERACTIONS.

LIKE ITS GENERATIVE AI COMPETITORS,  META AI  CAN GENERATE IMAGES, CRAFT CAPTIONS AND EVEN PARTICIPATE AS A MODERATOR IN GROUP CHATS, ANSWERING QUESTIONS AS NEEDED.

HOWEVER — ANIKA NAVAROLI — A SENIOR FELLOW AT COLUMBIA’S TOW CENTER FOR DIGITAL JOURNALISM, EXPLAINS THAT AI TOOLS CAN PERPETUATE HARMFUL CYCLES OF MISINFORMATION AND BIAS ACROSS SOCIAL PLATFORMS, DEEPENING SOCIETAL DIVIDES.

SHE WARNS, THESE BIASES, ONCE REINFORCED IN SOCIAL FEEDS, CREATE A SELF-SUSTAINING “FEEDBACK LOOP TO HELL,” INTENSIFYING HATE SPEECH AND HARMFUL CONTENT, WHICH CAN BECOME INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO MANAGE OR ELIMINATE.

AI-POWERED CHATBOTS CAN ALSO “HALLUCINATE” — PRODUCING FALSE OR IRRELEVANT ANSWERS THAT HAVE NO FACTUAL BASIS.

META AI IS INTEGRATED ACROSS ALMOST ALL OF THE COMPANY’S PLATFORMS WITHOUT AN OPTION TO DISABLE IT — WHEN ASKING THE CHATBOT HOW TO REMOVE IT— IT PROVIDES CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS, BUT THEY ARE MISLEADING AND NOT BASED ON ACCURATE INFORMATION.

USERS CAN AVOID INTERACTING WITH META AI BY IGNORING ITS SUGGESTIONS AND PROMPTS, BUT IT WILL REMAIN A PROMINENT FEATURE IN THE APPS.