Facebook has been using your publicly available data, including your posts, photos, and comments, to train its AI since 2007, but now, Meta AI wants to access photos you haven’t even uploaded yet.
Facebook users trying to use its “Story” feature are being asked to opt into “cloud processing” via a pop-up, TechCrunch reports.
If you click “Allow,” Facebook will be able to generate and suggest new content based on what’s inside your camera roll, including things like collages, recaps, AI restylings, or themes like “birthdays or graduations.”
But approving the request will mean that Facebook will upload photos from your camera roll to Meta’s servers on an “ongoing basis” to be processed. According to Meta AI’s Terms of Service, once you agree, Meta can analyze everything from the facial data of your friends and family to the location where your snaps were taken. At present, it appears the test feature is only available to users in the US and Canada.
The change has already attracted a degree of backlash from some users on X and Bluesky, and Reddit.
If you get cold feet after opting into the feature, there is a way out. Head to Facebook’s Settings page before going to the Preferences section.
When you reach “Camera Roll Sharing Suggestions,” you’ll find two toggles: one that allows Facebook to make suggestions based on your camera roll, and another that permits it to make AI-infused versions of your snaps.
But there is some good news for people concerned about AI overreach: the pop-up messages confirm that the media in your camera roll won’t be used for ad targeting.
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In addition, in a statement to TechCrunch, a Meta spokesperson confirmed that though AI will be used to make creative suggestions based on your camera roll, these photos “are not used to improve AI models in this test.”
The recent nod toward helping users create creative AI-generated content could be a ploy to attract younger audiences who have been drifting away from the social network.
Facebook saw an almost 40% drop in the number of teen users between 2014 and 2022—the largest decline of any social media platform, even surpassing older favorites like the image-sharing platform Tumblr. In response, it has been testing new features it hopes will reel Gen Z and Millennial audiences back in.
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