Desk Report:
Facebook parent company Meta plans to show more personalized ads based on users’ conversations with its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Meta AI. The change will take effect on December 16. This will make it easier for Meta to reach users based on the topics they talk about in the chatbot.
Meta already shows ads based on users’ posts, clicks and interactions on its platforms. However, by learning about the chatbot’s interactions, the company will be able to learn what kind of products users are looking for, where they are planning to travel or what products they need to solve a problem.
Meta said in a blog post on Wednesday, “Like other personal services, we tailor ads and content based on your activity. This improves your experience as your interests change. Many people expect their interactions to make what they see more relevant to them.” Soon, interactions with AI will also be a signal that we use to improve the human experience.
In addition to advertising, Meta AI will also be used to determine what kind of content users see on platforms. For example, if a user talks to a chatbot about hiking, Meta will understand that they are interested in this topic and will show them more content related to hiking.
However, this will put additional pressure on Meta. That is, if someone talks to a chatbot about relationship problems or something personal (many now use chatbots like therapists), then it should not show incorrect or harmful content based on that.
According to the company, Meta AI has 1 billion monthly users. However, it is not clear whether they use the chatbot regularly. Chatbots can be talked to through Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or the Meta AI app alone.
Meta is already making a huge amount of money from the advertising business. Their advertising revenue last quarter was $46.5 billion. This revenue is up more than 21 percent compared to the same period last year. Meta’s shares have risen about 20 percent since the beginning of this year and its market value as of October 1 stood at $ 1.8 trillion.
In the future, people will want to shop online through AI chatbots instead of scrolling through Google or social media, according to technology analysts. Meta’s rival OpenAI recently launched the ability for users to buy specific items directly through its chatbot ChatGPT. However, it is not an advertising-based business at the moment.
Meta will allow users to add or remove topics for ad targeting using their “Ad Preferences” tool. Facebook and Instagram have similar features for controlling content on their feeds.
Meta also said that it will not serve personalized ads based on conversations with chatbots regarding religious views, sexual orientation, political opinions, health, racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs or trade union membership.
Earlier, after the launch of the Meta AI app, users accidentally shared private chats (about relationship problems or financial matters) publicly. Meta later added a pop-up that warned users before publishing any AI conversations in a feed called “Discover”.
Last week, that “Discover” feed was replaced with a new feed called “Vibes”.
Source: CNN
