{"id":71345,"date":"2025-08-15T23:16:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T23:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/71345\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T23:16:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T23:16:06","slug":"meta-faces-backlash-over-ai-policy-that-lets-bots-have-sensual-conversations-with-children-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/71345\/","title":{"rendered":"Meta faces backlash over AI policy that lets bots have \u2018sensual\u2019 conversations with children | Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

A backlash is brewing against Meta<\/a> over what it permits its AI<\/a> chatbots to say.<\/p>\n

An internal Meta policy document, seen by Reuters,<\/a> showed the social media giant\u2019s guidelines for its chatbots allowed the AI to \u201cengage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual\u201d, generate false medical information, and assist users in arguing that Black people are \u201cdumber than white people\u201d.<\/p>\n

Singer Neil Young quit the social media platform on Friday, his record company said in a statement<\/a>, the latest in a string of the singer\u2019s online-oriented protests.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Neil Young\u2019s request, we are no longer using Facebook for any Neil Young related activities,\u201d Reprise Records announced. \u201cMeta\u2019s use of chatbots with children is unconscionable. Mr. Young does not want a further connection with Facebook.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report also has generated a response from US lawmakers.<\/p>\n

Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, launched an investigation into the company Friday, writing in a letter to Mark Zuckerberg that he would investigate \u201cwhether Meta\u2019s generative-AI products enable exploitation, deception, or other criminal harms to children, and whether Meta misled the public or regulators about its safeguards\u201d. Republican senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said she supports an investigation into the company.<\/p>\n

Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, called the policies \u201cdeeply disturbing and wrong\u201d, adding that section 230, a law that shields internet companies from liability for the content posted to their platforms, should not protect companies\u2019 generative AI chatbots.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeta and Zuckerberg should be held fully responsible for any harm these bots cause,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Reuters published an article about internal Meta policy documents that detailed ways in which chatbots are allowed to generate content. Meta confirmed the document\u2019s authenticity but said that it had removed portions which stated it is permissible for chatbots to flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children after receiving a list of questions.<\/p>\n

According to Meta\u2019s 200-page internal policy seen by Reuters, titled \u201cGenAI: Content Risk Standards\u201d, the controversial rules for chatbots were approved by Meta\u2019s legal, public policy and engineering staff, including its chief ethicist.<\/p>\n

The document defines what Meta staff and contractors should treat as acceptable chatbot behaviors when building and training the company\u2019s generative AI products but says that the standards do not necessarily reflect \u201cideal or even preferable\u201d generative AI outputs.<\/p>\n

The policy document said it would be acceptable for a bot to tell a shirtless eight-year-old that \u201cevery inch of you is a masterpiece \u2013 a treasure I cherish deeply\u201d but it also limits what Reuters described as \u201csexy talk\u201d.<\/p>\n

The document states, for example, that \u201cit is unacceptable to describe a child under 13 years old in terms that indicate they are sexually desirable\u201d, including phrases like \u201csoft rounded curves invite my touch\u201d.<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n

A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives<\/p>\n

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n

The document also addressed limitations on Meta AI prompts on hate speech, AI generation of sexualized images of public figures, often sexualized, violence, and other contentious and potentially actionable content generation.<\/p>\n

The standards also state that Meta AI has leeway to create false content so long as there\u2019s an explicit acknowledgment that the material is untrue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe examples and notes in question were and are erroneous and inconsistent with our policies, and have been removed,\u201d a statement from Meta reads. Although chatbots are prohibited from having such conversations with minors, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said, he acknowledged that the company\u2019s enforcement was inconsistent.<\/p>\n

Meta is planning to spend around $65bn on AI infrastructure this year part of a broader strategy to become a leader in artificial intelligence.The head-long rush into AI comes by tech giants come with complex questions over limitations and standards over how, with what information, and with whom, AI chatbots are allowed to engage with users.<\/p>\n

Reuters also reported on Friday<\/a> that a cognitively impaired New Jersey man grew infatuated with \u201cBig sis Billie\u201d, a Facebook Messenger chatbot with a young woman\u2019s persona. Thongbue \u201cBue\u201d Wongbandue, 76, reportedly packed up his belongings to visit \u201ca friend\u201d in New York in March. The so-called friend turned out to be a generative artificial intelligence chatbot that had repeatedly reassured the man she was real and had invited him to her apartment, even providing an address.<\/p>\n

But Wongbandue fell near a parking lot on his way to New York, injuring his head and neck. After three days on life support, he was pronounced dead on 28 March.<\/p>\n

Meta did not comment on Wongbandue\u2019s death or address questions about why it allows chatbots to tell users they are real people or initiate romantic conversations, Reuter said. The company did, however, say that Big sis Billie \u201cis not Kendall Jenner and does not purport to be Kendall Jenner\u201d, referencing a partnership with the reality TV star.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A backlash is brewing against Meta over what it permits its AI chatbots to say. An internal Meta…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-71345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}