Posting ‘Goodbye Meta AI’ is pointless. But we can stop big tech stealing our Facebook pictures
Instagram and Facebook users have attempted to halt the use of their data to train Meta AI, taking to the social media apps to post a message in protest — although it may all be for naught.
The “Goodbye Meta AI” statement shared by over 600,000 people — including celebrities like Julianne Moore, Tom Brady and Ashley Tisdale — does not actually protect users’ data from being used to train the tech giant’s AI software.
“Please note an attorney has advised us to put this on, failure to do so may result in legal consequences,” the message reads.
“As Meta is now a public entity all members must post a similar statement. If you do not post at least once it will be assumed you are okay with them using your information and photos,” the statement continues. “I do not give Meta or anyone else permission to use any of my personal data, profile information or photos.”
But the block of text doesn’t actually forbid Meta from scraping users’ publicly available content for training — it’s just a viral hoax.
“Sharing this story does not count as a valid form of objection,” a Meta spokesperson told BBC.
The posts — a type of mass-reposted content called “copypasta” — have even been labeled as “false information” online by Meta’s third party fact checker Lead Stories.
Meta launched its generative AI features a year ago, assuring users in a press release the only “publicly shared posts” on its platforms were used to train the system.
“We didn’t train these models using people’s private posts,” the company wrote. “We also do not use the content of your private messages with friends and family to train our AIs.”
Drag queen and former “American Idol” contestant Ava Vox took to Facebook earlier this month to warn users that “Meta has full permission” to use data through agreed upon terms and conditions — and that a reshared block of text will do nothing to protect privacy.
“Everyone, please STOP posting that ‘goodbye meta AI’ BS,” Vox wrote.
“Hackers use posts like that to target gullible and vulnerable people to find the easiest profiles to get into,” she continued.
“Please stop being so naive, and become more aware of internet safety and security. You are only putting a target on your back for hackers by sharing and making those ridiculous posts.”
Artificial intelligence training has prompted concern for data privacy, and while people in Europe can opt out of Meta AI due to regional laws, users in the US are not granted the same protections. Instead, the best they can do is set their profiles to private.
“While we don’t currently have an opt-out feature [for U.S. users], we’ve built in-platform tools that allow people to delete their personal information from chats with Meta AI across our apps,” a Meta representative told Wired.
