Meta announced Wednesday that data collected from user interactions with AI products will soon be used to sell targeted ads across social media platforms.
The company will update its privacy policy by December 16th to reflect the changes and notify users in the next few days. The new policy applies globally, except for users in the South Korea, the UK, and European Union, where privacy laws prevent this type of data collection.
Meta’s core business has long relied on creating detailed profiles of Facebook and Instagram users to sell hyper-target ads. The company offers advertisers a way to reach specific demographics and user groups. Currently, Meta uses data from conversations with AI chatbots to build these profiles and provide another powerful signal to target your ads.
The social media giant already has a lot of information about users, but Meta AI has created a rich new information stream. The company says it’s common for meta AI to chat with over a billion people each month, and users to have long, detailed conversations with AI chatbots. So far, Meta has primarily provided AI products for free, but now the company can improve its valuable advertising products based on the data it collects.
For example, if a user chats with Meta AI about hiking, the company may display ads for hiking gear. But Meta spokesman Emile Vazquez told TechCrunch that privacy updates will be broader than Meta AI and will apply to the company’s other AI products.
This means that Meta can further target advertising products using data from the AI capabilities of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, including audio recordings, photos and videos analyzed with AI. Meta may also use data from new AI-Video feeds, vibes, and AI image generation products.
Conversations with Meta AI only affect Facebook and Instagram ads if users are logged in to the same account across products.
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According to Meta, there is no way to opt out.
A change in privacy reminds us that free products from large tech companies often come with strings. Many tech companies already use AI interaction to train their models. For example, Meta trains audio recordings, photos, and videos analyzed via Meta AI with its smart glasses. It also sends the data to the advertising machine.
During a briefing with reporters, MetaPrivacy Policy Manager Christy Harris said the company is in the process of building a system that uses AI interaction to improve advertising products. However, the company says that user conversations with AI on sensitive topics such as religious views, sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic origins, philosophical beliefs, or union membership will not be used to display ads.
Tech companies are beginning to test ways to monetize their AI products. Most of them are free today. On Monday, Openai announced how to buy products at ChatGPT. There, the company will cut down on transactions completed through the app. Earlier this year, Google revealed plans for how to deploy advertising to AI-powered search products called AI modes.
Meta suggests CEO Mark Zuckerberg could come in the future, but says the company has “no immediate plans” to advertise in AI products.
