Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced on Wednesday that starting December 16, it will use people’s interactions with its generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools to personalize content and advertising across its apps. This marks a major shift in how Meta plans to leverage AI to enhance user experience and ad effectiveness. Users will begin receiving notifications about these changes in October to prepare them for the new personalization features and their effects. Meta will collect data from users’ interactions with AI tools—such as chatbots and AI-generated content features—to tailor both the content in their feeds and the ads shown to them. This aims to provide more relevant and engaging experiences across Meta’s platforms. Christy Harris, a Meta privacy expert, emphasized the company’s commitment to protecting user privacy, stating that data usage will adhere to strict privacy policies and regulatory requirements. Meta also plans to offer transparency and user controls over how data is used in the AI-driven personalization. As generative AI becomes more widespread in the tech industry, Meta’s move reflects its effort to maintain a leading role in innovation within the competitive social media space. However, critics have raised privacy concerns, warning that using AI interactions for ad personalization could increase data collection and user profiling, potentially exposing sensitive information.

Meta has reassured the public that it will prioritize privacy and implement strong safeguards against data misuse. This initiative arrives amid growing scrutiny of social media platforms’ data practices worldwide, with regulators demanding stricter controls and clearer disclosures. Meta’s notifications to users align with evolving regulations and aim to keep users informed about data usage. From December 16 onward, users interacting with Meta’s generative AI features will encounter feeds and advertisements more finely tuned to their preferences and behaviors as interpreted by AI algorithms, enhancing engagement and satisfaction. Meta acknowledges challenges such as the risk of echo chambers—where users see mostly content aligned with their existing views—but assures it will maintain efforts to promote content diversity for a balanced experience. Advertisers are expected to benefit from improved personalization through higher engagement and more effective campaigns, which could also boost Meta’s revenue. Meta plans to monitor user feedback closely and adjust features as needed, while exploring options to empower users with greater control over AI personalization settings. In summary, Meta’s integration of generative AI interaction data into content and ad personalization is a strategic effort to utilize advanced technology for better user experiences and advertising outcomes. This development highlights the need to address privacy and ethical issues in AI deployment. Users of Facebook, Instagram, and other Meta apps will receive notifications starting in October, with changes going live in mid-December.