FACEBOOK

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Facebook invests in AI research and development  by conducting both fundamental and applied research to advance the understanding of the technology, and to impact product experiences. Areas of interest include, among others, computer vision, conversational AI, natural language processing, speech and audio, and human and machine intelligence.

Most of the research produced by Facebook on AI is open source and is accessible to external partners. Facebook AI is also investing in cutting edge open source frameworks, tools, libraries, and models for research exploration to large-scale production deployment. These tools cover a broad range of areas including language, speech, reasoning, and imagery.

The company is utilising various AI tools across its social media services. For instance, AI is used to implement content policies in areas such as detecting fake accounts, fighting online child abuse, removing violent extremism and terrorism content, and identifying and removing hate speech. The company is also employing facial recognition technology (FRT), for example, via tools allowing its users to tag friends in photos they post on the social media platform. The company’s use of FRT has been subject to criticism over its privacy implications; this lead to changes aimed at giving users a greater degree of control on how and whether FRT is utilised.

In recent years, Facebook and other social media companies have been at the centre of debates regarding the misuse of social media for political interference purposes. The distribution of deepfakes – which involve the use of machine learning and neural network technology to falsify images and footage – has been a major source of concern, especially when used in the context of election processes to discredit political adversaries (and thus negatively impact democractic processes). In January 2020, the company announced a stricter policy banning ‘misleading manipulated media’ which uses AI and machine learning; if identified, such content is to be removed from Facebook.

The company currently is engaged in several initiatives aimed at addressing concerns related to abuse of its services during elections. For instance, it created an independent commission to help fund and organise research on the impact of social media on society, including election processes. It also announced a partnership with the Atlantic Council on tackling issues related to misinformation and foreign interference in elections.

On regulatory issues, Facebook has called on lawmakers to adopt clear privacy rules ‘on when information can be used to serve the public interest and how it should apply to new technologies such as AI’.

The data Facebook collects can be of significant value to governments: applying AI can help detect patterns that were not traceable before and could potentially shape government security policy. However, there is no evidence that Facebook collaborates with the government at this specific level.

Facebook is a member of the Partnership on AI, an international coalition focused on promoting the responsible use of AI.

BLOCKCHAIN

In June 2019, Facebook announced the official launch of its Libra cryptocurrency, expected to go live in 2020. Described as a global currency and financial infrastructure dedicated to ‘creating a more inclusive financial system’, Libra is built on the Libra Blockchain and is backed by a reserve of real assets (money coming from investors and Libra users). The currency is governed by the Libra Association, a non-profit organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, whose founding members include both private companies (such as PayU, Spotify, Lyft, and Uber), and non-profit organisations (such as Kiva, Mercy Corps, and Women’s World Banking). Facebook is part of the Libra Association through its newly formed subsidiary Calibra, which will develop the electronic wallets for users to receive and spend Libra.

Since its launch, Libra has attracted significant attention from financial regulators. For instance, France and Germany expressed concerns over the fact that Libra might pose serious risks to consumers, financial stability, and even to the monetary sovereignty of European states. In the USA, Calibra head David Marcus and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of Congress. Both emphasised that Libra would not compete with sovereign currencies, but rather, act as a payment system. Moreover, they committed to making sure that Libra would not be released until fully compliant with US and global financial rules.

Recent reports (as of March 2020) indicate that Facebook is rethinking its Libra plans, considering a system with digital versions of fiat currencies such as the US$ and the EURO.

AUGMENTED/VIRTUAL REALITY

Facebook has shown an increased interest in augmented and virtual reality, having acquired several companies specialised in this area. The most notable example is the acquisition of Oculus VR, Inc, which placed Fecabook among the leading VR companies. Oculus products target both individual consumers and businesses and organisations; the company claims that its VR headsets help ‘increase productivity, reduce training costs, and enhance collaboration’.

The research arm of Oculus is building a team capable of advancing VR forward by bringing together researchers and engineers spanning a wide range of expertise in various fields.

There is a concern that AR/VR devices could potentially result in a mass collection of detailed user data which Facebook can utilise in the other platforms it owns. This triggers the need to scrutinise the privacy policies that Facebook implements across its multiple products and services, especially with regard to how data is/could be shared among them.