Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
{{ subpage.title }}
Meta AI logo is seen in this illustration taken on Sept. 28, 2023.
How to train your AI — without humans
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has prided itself on releasing innovative open-source models as an alternative to the proprietary — or closed-source — models of OpenAI, Anthropic, and other leading AI developers. Now, it claims one of its newest models can evaluate other AI models. (That really is meta.)
Researchers at Meta’s Fundamental AI Research – yep, they call it their FAIR team – detailed their work on what they’re calling a “self-taught evaluator” in an August white paper ahead of the new model’s launch. The researchers sought to train an AI to evaluate models based not on human preference but on synthetic data. In short, Meta is trying to develop an AI model that can evaluate and improve itself without reliance on humans.
This could push AI to a place where it can sense its own imperfections and improve without being told to do so — a greater level of autonomy. Dystopian? Maybe.
SUQIAN, CHINA - FEBRUARY 2, 2024 - Illustration Meta plans to increase AI investment in Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China, February 2, 2024.
Meta’s AI full-court press
If you use any Meta product — Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Messenger — buck up for an onslaught of AI. The social media giant is rolling out AI-powered assistants across its apps in unavoidable ways.
Meta’s AI, quite simply, will be everywhere: in your searches, conversations with friends, and chiming to conversations on Facebook groups. It’s powered by the company’s LLaMA 3 model, and is meant to help you answer questions or complete tasks — whatever you want, really. GZERO searched for Thai food on Instagram and instantly initiated a conversation with the Meta AI chatbot. (It gave five good options nearby.)
Meta has taken an open-source approach to developing artificial intelligence, releasing its powerful model for the world to use. That’s different from rivals like OpenAI, which charge consumers and companies to use their closed-source tech.
Now, it’s putting its models to use in a bid to ensure you spend as much time on its platforms as possible. Meta’s bread and butter, as an advertising giant, is attention. If you don’t need to leave Instagram to Google something, or write something with ChatGPT, that’ll quickly mean more money for Meta.
If users aren’t so horribly annoyed or creeped out that they disengage completely, that is. 404 Media reported that Meta’s AI told a parents group on Facebook that it has a disabled-yet-gifted child before the company received complaints and removed the comments. And, for people who want to opt out entirely, it doesn’t help that currently there’s no real way to turn the AI off either.