Meta’s new opt-in AI scans phone photos to find “hidden gems” and suggest edits or collages
Meta stressed the content will not be used to train its AI models unless users choose to edit or publish the suggested creations. PHOTO: PIXABAY
Meta Platforms has begun testing an optional Facebook feature in the United States and Canada that lets its artificial intelligence tools sift through users’ smartphone camera rolls to recommend photos and videos to post — even those never uploaded to the platform.
The company said the opt-in service, launched on Friday, is designed to help users “find hidden gems” buried among screenshots and casual snaps. Once activated, the tool automatically uploads media from a user’s device to Meta’s cloud, where its AI system generates suggested edits or collages that can be saved or shared.
Meta stressed that the content will not be used to train its AI models unless users choose to edit or publish the suggested creations.
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“The camera roll media uploaded by this feature to make suggestions won’t be used to improve AI at Meta,” company spokesperson Mari Melguizo said in an email. “Only if you edit the suggestions with our AI tools or publish them to Facebook, improvements to AI at Meta may be made.”
The clarification follows public concern over how the social media giant handles unpublished data. Meta previously confirmed that it has already trained its AI on publicly available posts and photos shared by adult users across Facebook and Instagram since 2007.
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According to the company, the new tool will store photos in the cloud on an ongoing basis and may retain some data for longer than 30 days, though it says the content “won’t be used for ad targeting.”
Facebook’s rollout marks the latest step in Meta’s broader effort to weave generative AI features into its apps, as it races against rivals including OpenAI and Google to build consumer-facing AI products.
Meta said the feature will reach more Facebook users “in the coming months.”
