Meta Platforms is accelerating the rollout of artificial intelligence (AI) tools across Facebook and Instagram, amid mounting scrutiny of its business practices and user privacy.
In a statement, the company says its new generative AI-powered tools are being introduced to improve user support and platform safety across its core social networking platforms.
The move, according to Meta, will reduce friction for users and make its apps safer and easier to navigate.
The move comes as the company faces allegations of contributing to user addiction, violation of user privacy and mismanagement of platform safety.
A California jury recently declared Meta and YouTube to be liable in a landmark trial, ruling the design of their products fostered addiction in a young woman and harmed her mental health.
Furthermore, Meta is facing growing legal and regulatory pressure globally regarding user privacy, AI training data and child safety, accumulating hundreds of millions in fines and restricted business practices.
The social media giant is also undergoing a significant transition in its content moderation strategy, as it moves away from third-party business process outsourcing vendors and human content moderators toward AI-driven reviewers, resulting in substantial job cuts, according to Business Insider.
Legal and regulatory pressures related to user protection and content moderation have intensified, prompting the company to present a proactive stance on safety and support.
Meta maintains that by embedding AI directly into app help centres, it aims to demonstrate measurable improvements in the speed of user queries and safety.
Industry pundits suggest Meta’s move is as much about repairing its public image as it is about technological advancement.
Meta is positioning its AI rollout as a way to quickly address user queries, reduce exposure to scams and impersonation, and streamline account support.
“When you have an account issue, you need a solution − not just a suggestion,” Meta wrote in its newsroom blog post.
“The support assistant is designed to help resolve account problems for users from start to finish. This includes tasks such as resetting passwords, updating profile settings, reporting scams, managing privacy preferences, reporting scam or impersonation accounts, and helping users understand why content was removed.”
Meta says it also plans to expand the use of generative AI in content enforcement, targeting harmful or fraudulent material with faster, more automated detection.
“Human oversight will remain in place for complex cases, striking a balance between speed and accuracy,” notes the social media firm.
Meta’s pivot to AI follows challenges in its metaverse division and declining confidence in the company’s traditional growth strategies, after the unit recorded cumulative losses of $80 billion since 2020, according to the Economic Times.
In early January, Meta announced plans to cut between 10% and 15% of roles in its Reality Labs division, with most of the job losses tied to its metaverse operations.
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