Meta To Start Using AI Chatbot Conversations To Target Advertising, And Users Can't Opt Out

Meta Platforms Inc. will soon start using interactions with its AI chatbot to more effectively tailor the content and advertising that people see on Facebook and Instagram.

The update, which will take effect on Dec. 16, means that users may begin to see recommended posts or ads about topics they discuss with the Meta AI chatbot. A user asking the tool to help plan a family vacation, for example, could start to see ads from travel companies on their Instagram feed. 

The approach also relies on chatbot voice conversations via the company’s headsets, and there’s no option for people to opt out of this change, according to Christy Harris, a privacy policy manager at Meta. When asked whether the company will begin to show ads directly inside the chatbot, a spokesperson said, “We don’t have plans to share.”

Meta has invested heavily in AI this year, betting on a technology that Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg believes will change the way people live and interact online. Meta’s AI chatbot has more than 1 billion monthly users and is a main way that consumers interact with the company’s artificial intelligence.

Beyond spending tens of billions of dollars on the infrastructure needed to build AI models and products, Meta has looked for ways to use the technology to enhance its advertising business, which drives almost all of its revenue and pays for the artificial intelligence investments.

It’s unclear whether this targeting change will affect the way that users interact with Meta’s chatbot moving forward. People rely on chatbots from several major tech companies for a wide range of personal needs, using them as stand-ins for medical consultants, financial planners, homework helpers and even romantic partners. Zuckerberg has suggested that AI chatbots can make people feel less lonely or serve as a kind of therapist. 

Harris said that feedback received from Meta users showed that most people already assumed the company was using these interactions for ad and content targeting.

“We are adding one more signal from AI interactions into the mix in the same way that we use other signals across all of our platforms,” she said, calling this “an incremental change.” The change won’t apply to conversations held before the Dec. 16 start date, the Menlo Park, California-based company said. 

Meta expects to roll out this new targeting capability globally, but will exclude the UK, the European Union and South Korea from the initial release. It hopes to add those markets following regulatory review. The EU, in particular, has pushed back on Meta’s AI products, citing data privacy concerns.