new york
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Meta will soon make it even better for people to sell things by using what they tell AI chatbots.
The company said Wednesday that users' chat and interactions with Meta AI will be used immediately, and will target them with more personalized ads. Users will start watching notifications of changes next week, but will not start until December 16th.
Meta is already targeting users on social media platforms based on what you post and click, and what they connect to. That data allows Meta to infer what users will buy. However, conversations with Meta chatbots allow users to directly communicate what they are shopping for, what they are packing, what they are quickly packing, and what problems the product can solve.
The company also uses Meta AI data to help users determine what type of content they will see on their site.
For example, Meta says that if a user talks to a chatbot about hiking, they are interested in sports and know that they will provide more hiking-related content. However, this change raises pressure on the meta to prevent personal or difficult conversations with AI. For example, when you consider how many people currently use chatbots like therapists, from encouraging recommendations for potentially harmful content, about relationships.
“Like other personalized services, we will tailor the ads and content that are displayed based on activity so that the experience evolves as interests change,” Meta announced the changes in a blog post Wednesday. “Many people expect interactions to create more relevant things. Soon, interactions with AIS will become another signal they use to improve people's experiences.”
According to the company, Meta AI has 1 billion users per month, but it is not clear how those users are regularly involved. Users can talk to chatbots via Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or a standalone meta AI app.
And the company has already collected a large sum of money from its advertising business. In the last quarter alone, it acquired $46.5 billion from advertising revenue, up more than 21% from the same period last year. Meta's stock (META) has grown nearly 20% since its launch this year, and as of October 1, its market capitalization has reached $1.8 trillion.
However, in Silicon Valley, some people would prefer to shop online via AI chatbots rather than searching on Google or scrolling through social media. On Monday, metallical Openai now allows users to purchase selection items directly through their own chatbot, ChatGpt, but it is no longer an ad-based business.
Meta users still have the option to add or remove topics from targeted ads using the “Ad Settings” tool, and the company offers similar features for users to control content in their Facebook and Instagram feeds.
Meta also said it would not offer personalized ads based on conversations with chatbots about religious views, sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic origins, philosophical beliefs or union membership. (To be clear, Meta still allows ads related to these topics. It does not target users based on their interest in them.)
After the company launched a meta AI app, users reported being embarrassed to unconsciously share personal chats that they thought were private about relationship issues and finances. Meta later added a pop-up warning users before publishing AI conversations to a feed called Discovery.
That feed was replaced last week with “Vibe,” an endless scrolling feed of user-generated AI-generated videos.
So, with Meta ad targeting changes coming into effect later this year, if you're watching too many AI-generated dog videos in the atmosphere, be prepared to target your dog-related ads on Instagram.
