Meta has cleared another hurdle in its push to expand access to its AI tools, with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) confirming that it has approved Meta’s updated approach to incorporating EU user data into its AI models.
Meta has faced significant opposition to its AI training plans in Europe, with the EU Commission forcing it to delay its AI roll-out in the region last year, due to concerns around data usage, and a lack of user consent for such.
Meta has now upgraded its AI data permissions, in line with advice from European authorities, with the approval of the DPC clearing the way for it to incorporate EU user data into its AI models.
As per the DPC:
“Having reviewed Meta’s proposals, and following feedback from the other EU/EEA supervisory authorities, the DPC made a number of recommendations to Meta regarding the potential impact for the data protection rights of individuals. Meta has been responsive to the DPC’s requests during this process and as a result, Meta has implemented a number of significant measures and improvements.”
Among them, Meta has now launched an updated objection form for those who don’t want their data used for AI training, while it’s also sent out in-app notifications to all Facebook and IG users in the region regarding data usage. It’s also updated its risk assessment procedures in line with GDPR requirements.
Meta now plans to start incorporating EU user data into its AI systems from next week, which it believes is a key development in ensuring relevant AI experiences for European users.
Because Meta believes that regional insight is key to AI relevance.
Last month, Meta outlined its case for incorporating EU user data, noting that:
“We believe we have a responsibility to build AI that’s not just available to Europeans, but is actually built for them. That’s why it’s so important for our generative AI models to be trained on a variety of data so they can understand the incredible and diverse nuances and complexities that make up European communities. That means everything from dialects and colloquialisms, to hyper-local knowledge and the distinct ways different countries use humor and sarcasm on our products. This is particularly important as AI models become more advanced with multi-modal functionality, which spans text, voice, video, and imagery.”
So, in Meta’s view, it needs localized data to maximize the value of its AI tools, though that will also, of course, enable it to add insights from millions more people, giving it significantly more data to feed into its AI systems.
So is this of more value to Meta, or will it be more contextually relevant for European users?
Well, it’s hard to say, but Meta definitely has a huge potential data pool to draw from, and without EU users, a significant chunk of that is left on the shelf.
Data is becoming more valuable in the AI age, with such tools only as valuable as the insights they can draw from to formulate their responses. In this respect, local data is important, because the nuances of language, for example, are different, and without that knowledge, the answers provided won’t be as relevant.
Meta still faces opposition over data usage for this purpose, and it still has some challenges to overcome, but these official approvals are a big step towards enabling the company to keep building its AI tools.
