Meta won't train AI on Euro posts after all, as watchdogs put their paws down (www.theregister.com)
from boem@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 17 Jun 2024 10:15
https://lemmy.world/post/16621984

#technology

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NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world on 17 Jun 2024 10:18 next collapse

Laughable, how they put it.

data protection agencies in 11 European countries – and those agencies, led by Ireland, telling the Facebook giant to scrap the slurp.

They are making such a pathetic show about their own decision to observe the law.

And this is a law that is clearly and openly readable. You don’t need legal experts to understand the basics, and you don’t need any agencies telling you that you must observe it.

They are constantly giving the impression as if they were a gang of professional outlaws and only if somebody catches them redhanded, then they are able make a decision - one decision for one case, exceptipnally - to behave properly.

octopus_ink@lemmy.ml on 17 Jun 2024 10:39 next collapse

They are the worst of the worst, and I will never use an instance that voluntarily federates with Threads. I respect MS more than Meta, and that’s a pretty incredible feat on the part of Meta.

sunzu@kbin.run on 17 Jun 2024 12:12 next collapse

MS is catching up tho. Imagine Facebook style OS lol can't escape the tracking ever

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 17 Jun 2024 15:20 next collapse

Good thing I avoid them too.

lemmyvore@feddit.nl on 18 Jun 2024 10:29 collapse

You mean like Android?

sunzu@kbin.run on 18 Jun 2024 10:56 collapse

Ya.. It can be de gogoled tbo

lemmyvore@feddit.nl on 18 Jun 2024 11:04 collapse

Sure, but my point was that you don’t have to go far to imagine such a thing. It’s been here for ages.

sunzu@kbin.run on 18 Jun 2024 11:06 collapse

Touche.

brbposting@sh.itjust.works on 17 Jun 2024 20:19 collapse

Once electronics get cheap enough, FB will probably ship free devices with some fbOS spyware. Like how they’ll zero rate data if they’re allowed to in a given region.

Per our heroes at the EFF:

Such “pay for play” arrangements favor big content providers who can afford to pay for access to users’ eyeballs, and marginalize those who can’t, such as nonprofits, startups, and fellow users.

sunzu@kbin.run on 17 Jun 2024 12:11 collapse

And sure as fuck corrupt Ireland hosting US big tech should NOT be the one leading anything privacy related... It is a charade IMHO

geophysicist@discuss.tchncs.de on 18 Jun 2024 06:37 collapse

Well you’re certainly entitled to an opinion

sunzu@kbin.run on 18 Jun 2024 10:54 collapse

Record speaks for itself.

EU commission had to tell Ireland to tax apple because Ireland can't ready the law properly...

Now lets put these clown I'm charge of privacy???
Loolz

geophysicist@discuss.tchncs.de on 18 Jun 2024 15:23 collapse

That’s not a proper understanding of that situation either

sunzu@kbin.run on 18 Jun 2024 15:27 collapse

Then educate the public champ

autotldr@lemmings.world on 17 Jun 2024 10:20 next collapse

This is the best summary I could come up with:


And while this climb down has been cheered by privacy advocates, Meta called it “a step backwards for European innovation” that will cause “further delays bringing the benefits of AI to people in Europe.”

“We’re disappointed by the request from the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), our lead regulator, on behalf of the European DPAs, to delay training our large language models (LLMs) using public content shared by adults on Facebook and Instagram  — particularly since we incorporated regulatory feedback and the European DPAs have been informed since March,” the social network said in a statement on Friday.

Without a steady diet of EU information, Meta’s AI systems won’t be able to “accurately understand important regional languages, cultures or trending topics on social media,” the American goliath said at the time.

“In order to get the most out of generative AI and the opportunities it brings, it is crucial that the public can trust that their privacy rights will be respected from the outset,” Almond continued.

“We will continue to monitor major developers of generative AI, including Meta, to review the safeguards they have put in place and ensure the information rights of UK users are protected.”

Privacy group noyb had filed complaints with various European DPAs about Meta’s LLM training plans, and its chair Max Schrems on Friday said while the organization welcomed the news, it “will monitor this closely.”


The original article contains 589 words, the summary contains 231 words. Saved 61%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 17 Jun 2024 10:56 next collapse

common eu w

dmtalon@infosec.pub on 17 Jun 2024 11:01 next collapse

Its crazy how much further ahead Europe is in Privacy Protection.

All these companies need to be held responsible for what they do with our data, and what it costs them when they lose control of it. Either figure out how to safe guard it or suffer painful consequences. Or perhaps only store what’s necessary for us to interact.

Grippler@feddit.dk on 17 Jun 2024 11:04 collapse

But then again, we also have pretty much every EU group pushing for super invasive chat control. It’s ridiculous how schizophrenic they are on the subject of digital privacy.

sunzu@kbin.run on 17 Jun 2024 12:10 next collapse

They are telling what they care about, take notice.

I am once they get a local AI grfiter, they will change tune too.

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 17 Jun 2024 15:21 next collapse

Yup, the EU isn’t a role model for the world or anything. They have some good laws, and those should be replicated elsewhere, but don’t assume that just because they got a few things right, that they don’t mess up in other really important ways.

echodot@feddit.uk on 17 Jun 2024 15:33 collapse

For some reason a lot of parts of Europe seem to want to elect hard right borderline neo Nazis. Many cases, not even borderline.

God knows what the appeal is. Since the hard right and every particularly interested in protecting their own more interested in protecting their wallets. Not a concern that the vast majority of the populace are really going to empathise with.

Grippler@feddit.dk on 17 Jun 2024 15:37 collapse

Even parties to the left are pro this surveillance bullshit.

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works on 17 Jun 2024 15:50 collapse

That’s apparently a thing everywhere.

I’m in the US, and people here just seem to be okay with the TSA, NSA, CBP, etc all going through your stuff. I was complaining about BS stoplight cameras on a trip to another state, and my parents and cousin seemed to want more of them, despite them largely just harassing law-abiding citizens by shortening yellow-light durations and ticketing people for pulling too far forward… They also seem interested in facial recognition in stores and whatnot.

I don’t get it. If they did an ounce of research, they’d see that these don’t actually reduce crime or protect anyone, they just drive revenue and harass people. I mention “privacy” and they pull the “nothing to hide” argument.

People seem to want their privacy violated. I just don’t get it.

themurphy@lemmy.ml on 17 Jun 2024 15:29 next collapse

Yeah, seems weird, but there’s also points where it’s not related at all.

One is a company using user data they didn’t tell they would use for this purpose, and illegally trying to do it anyway. They literally sell the data by making a product of it. It’s also a private company with stakeholders.

Other is EU scanning messages, but not selling them.

So it’s about who you trust basically.

lemmyvore@feddit.nl on 18 Jun 2024 10:33 collapse

It’s not the same groups and entities pushing these things. It looks contradictory because it all ends up submitted to the same legislative bodies but that’s par for the course in a functional democracy.

FaceDeer@fedia.io on 17 Jun 2024 11:55 next collapse

So Meta's AIs will mainly reflect non-EU cultural values.

No_Change_Just_Money@feddit.de on 17 Jun 2024 13:33 next collapse

Mate, it takes the combined discussions of the internet

I would not expect any sort of values

brbposting@sh.itjust.works on 17 Jun 2024 20:22 collapse

I would expect plenty of deeply-held values:

Rule 34

Shitposts

CSAM

Disingenuous partisan mis/disinformation

Worst hot takes imaginable

brsrklf@jlai.lu on 17 Jun 2024 15:00 collapse

EU cultural values include resisting against corporations doing whatever they want with our data. Let’s see meta try to reflect those.

FaceDeer@fedia.io on 17 Jun 2024 15:19 collapse

So you want Meta's AI to have values that don't include resisting against corporations doing whatever they want with your data?

This is a seriously double-edged sword here. The training data of these AIs is what gives these AIs their capabilities and biases.

brsrklf@jlai.lu on 17 Jun 2024 16:41 next collapse

Anyway, no matter from which parts of the world it’s trained, we’re talking about 2024 Facebook content. We’ve seen what Reddit does to an AI.

Can’t wait for meta’s cultured AI to share its wisdom with us.

FaceDeer@fedia.io on 17 Jun 2024 16:51 collapse

Reddit is actually extremely good for AI. It's a vast trove of examples of people talking to each other.

When it comes to factual data then there are better sources, sure, but factual data has never been the key deficiency of AI. We've long had search engines for that kind of thing. What AIs had trouble with was human interaction, which is what Reddit and Facebook are all about. These datasets train the AI to be able to communicate.

If the Fediverse was larger we'd be a significant source of AI training material too. Would be surprised if it's not being collected already.

neshura@bookwormstory.social on 17 Jun 2024 21:13 collapse

I think they were referencing glue on pizza ring and stuf .like that

FaceDeer@fedia.io on 17 Jun 2024 21:17 collapse

The "glue on pizza" thing wasn't a result of the AI's training, the AI was working fine. It was the search result that gave it a goofy answer to summarize.

The problem here is that it seems people don't really understand what goes into training an LLM or how the training data is used.

lemmyvore@feddit.nl on 18 Jun 2024 10:31 collapse

Training AI is not some noble endeavor that must be done no matter what. It’s a commercial grab that needs to balance utility with consumer rights.

Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.de on 18 Jun 2024 07:22 collapse

Don’t worry, maybe Meta can eventually just buy the inevitable leaks resulting from the general chat surveilance the EU so vehemently tries to push through.