Meta Addresses Legal and Ethical Issues in AI Development

Meta Platforms is reportedly working to ensure responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools as it rolls out a series of new chatbots.

Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, is among the leaders of the company’s safety and training efforts, Bloomberg reported Thursday (Oct. 12).

Thousands of hours of stress-testing have been conducted to make the chatbots as safe as possible, Clegg said when interviewed for the Bloomberg Originals series AI IRL. While Meta cannot guarantee that the chatbots won’t say something inappropriate or unwelcome, the company is continuously retraining the AI to improve its responses.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is making significant strides in the field of AI, according to the report. One of its latest endeavors involves the development of AI chatbots that can respond to user messages in a creative and engaging manner. These chatbots include characters like a detective who talks like Paris Hilton and an armor-wearing character based on Snoop Dogg.

Clegg plays a crucial role in decision-making regarding the direction of Meta’s AI tools, the report said. He anticipates and addresses legal, regulatory, moral, ethical and cultural issues that may arise with the introduction of new AI products.

Meta has been using AI in its consumer-facing products for years, particularly in content curation and combating misinformation, per the report. However, the incorporation of AI chatbots presents new challenges, such as the potential for the generation of concerning imagery.

Governments, regulators and ethicists are closely scrutinizing the development of AI systems, and Meta is not exempt from this scrutiny, according to the report. While the United States has sought voluntary agreements from tech companies to safeguard their AI products, Europe is moving faster to regulate the technology. The European Parliament has approved a draft law that sets boundaries on AI technology usage and imposes significant penalties for violations.

Meta aims to address ethical concerns by adopting transparent, open-source licenses for its datasets and large-language models that power AI chatbots, the report said. Clegg said that openness about the operation of these technologies, including risks, benefits, user controls and collaboration with others, is crucial for ethical use.

Governments are moving to regulate AI technology due to the inherent dangers of abuse that include inequitable discrimination and algorithm bias, disinformation and fraud, among others, PYMNTS reported in May.