Meta will soon use AI chats for ad targeting because of course it will

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced that it will soon start using data from conversations with AI chatbots to personalize the content and ads users see across its platforms. The company claims this change will go into effect on December 16 and will be implemented in most regions globally, except for the EU and South Korea initially. Meta argues that this data will help "personalize the content and ads" that people see, citing the example of a user discussing hiking with an AI chatbot and then seeing ads related to hiking. However, the company has stated that it will not scrape data pertaining to sensitive topics such as religious views, sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership. This move by Meta is a further expansion of the company's ad targeting practices, which have been a subject of scrutiny for years. Users will not be able to opt out of this feature, and the article emphasizes that AI chatbots are not to be considered as "friends," as the data from these conversations will be used for commercial purposes.