Meta has announced it will begin using public data from Instagram and Facebook in the UK to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models. Although initially scheduled to start three months ago, the plan was delayed due to regulatory concerns. On Friday, Meta confirmed it has now received approval to move forward. The company stated that this initiative will allow its AI models to better reflect the culture of British users.
Meta to Use UK Social Media Data for AI Training
In a recent newsroom update, Meta explained that it had paused its original plan following concerns raised by UK regulators about data usage and user opt-out options. After positive discussions with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Meta has resumed its AI training initiative, which will start in the coming months.
Meta’s goal is to ensure that its AI models better capture British culture, language, and social nuances. The company also emphasized its commitment to representing diverse global communities by training AI on localized user data.
Meta clarified that only public data from adult users on Instagram and Facebook will be used, while information from users under 18 or private content such as personal messages will not be included. Public posts, comments, photos, and captions from adult users will serve as the training data.
Starting next week, adult users in the UK will receive notifications on Instagram and Facebook explaining the AI training process and how they can opt out. Users who have already objected to their data being used will not receive these notifications, and their data will remain excluded from AI training.
