Meta Platforms Inc. is under immense pressure to ensure that social media content created by artificial intelligence does not wreak havoc in this year’s elections. The company’s top executives say they have yet to see this happen in their departments.
“So far, it has been very striking how little of these tools have been used in a systemic way to try to overturn or disrupt these elections,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said during a press conference. a company AI strategy event in London on January 1. Tuesday.
There is still time for this to change. The rapid spread of AI tools capable of generating realistic images, videos or audio clips coincides with a key global election year, with around half of the world’s population heading to the polls in 2024. Experts fear that the AI-generated content could mislead voters or sow disinformation. on social media, citing incidents such as fake audio recordings of US President Joe Biden broadcast to 20,000 New Hampshire voters in January.
Last week, Meta announced plans to label all AI-generated content on Facebook and its other properties, even if that material is not generated using Meta’s own AI tools. Clegg said he is “quietly optimistic” that the tech sector will agree on standards for moderating AI-generated media. “We must be vigilant,” he added. “But I urge us to consider AI as a great tool to achieve this.”
On Tuesday, Clegg and other senior executives touted the company’s range of AI models, integrated into products ranging from Instagram to augmented Ray-Ban glasses. Meta is a strong supporter of open source AI. According to Clegg, the free distribution of such technology ensures that AI will not just be “in the sweaty hands of a small number of deep-pocketed companies in California.”
A new version of Meta’s flagship model, Llama, will arrive “within the next month, hopefully less,” Clegg added. Executives also highlighted Meta’s potential to integrate AI chatbots into more products. “In the near future, every one of our interactions will be mediated by an AI assistant,” Yann LeCun, Meta’s chief scientist, said on stage as he donned the company’s Ray-Bans.
Meta’s labeling policy would extend to these features, according to Chris Cox, its product director. All texts with chatbots on WhatsApp would be clearly labeled as AI conversations, he said.
But Cox added that AI-generated media was “still de minimis” on Facebook and Instagram feeds.
One more thing ! We are now on WhatsApp channels! Follow us there to never miss any updates from the tech world. To follow the HT Tech channel on WhatsApp, click on here join now!
