Meta has rolled out an artificial intelligence feature for its Facebook users in the US and Canada that it claims makes their photos and videos more “share-worthy.” The only catch is that this feature is designed for your phone's camera roll – No media files you've already uploaded to Facebook. If you agree, Meta AI will review your camera roll, download your unpublished photos into the Meta cloud and onto the surface of “hidden treasures” that are “lost among screenshots, receipts and random snapshots,” the company says. Users will be able to save or share suggested edits and collages.
If Facebook's desire to see your unpublished photos sounds familiar, it's probably because we wrote about an early test in June. The company said at the time that unpublished private photos are not used to train Meta's AI, but declined to rule out whether it would do so in the future.
Well, the future is now, and it looks like Meta wants to train its AI on your photos—under certain conditions. IN Friday announcement About this feature, Meta says, “We don't use media from your camera roll to improve AI in Meta unless you choose to edit that media using our AI tools or share it.”
Edge asked Meta to confirm: Meta will use the camera roll to train its AI if you decide to use this feature, right? We also asked for clarification regarding When Meta is starting to use your unpublished photos to train its AI. Does this happen when you enable a new feature? Once you decide to edit something using this tool? Or only after you decide to share your creation?
Meta spokesperson Marie Melguiso sent us the following clarification: “This means that camera media uploaded using this suggestion feature will not be used to improve Meta's AI. Only if you edit suggestions using our AI tools or post those suggestions to Facebook, Meta's AI improvements can be made.”
So, Meta will collect and store your photos in the cloud, and Meta's AI will be able to view them, but the company won't use them to train its AI unless you take additional steps—at least for now, according to Meta. Today, the feature says it will “select media from your camera roll and continuously upload it to our cloud”; Meta told us in June that it could store some of this data for more than 30 days. The company says your media “will not be used for ad targeting.”
Last year Meta admitted that it was already calm trained their AI models in all public photos and texts posted on Facebook and Instagram by adult users since 2007.
Today's Facebook blog reveals that users will be asked if they want to “allow cloud processing to get creative ideas made for you using your camera.” It's unclear whether this message will alert users that this feature can train the Meta AI on your photos. The company says the feature is designed to help users who enjoy taking photos but want to improve their photos before posting, or who don't have time to “create something special.” Facebook says it will introduce this feature in the coming months.
