Meta is preparing to use conversations with its AI chatbot to fine-tune advertising and content suggestions, signaling a deeper push into data-driven personalization that could reshape digital privacy expectations, not that people should expect much privacy from Meta anyway.
The company says this policy will begin on December 16.
Under the new approach, exchanges with the chatbot could influence what people see on platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
Under the new policy, if someone asks the chatbot for dinner ideas in a certain neighborhood, they might later encounter restaurant ads on Facebook or suggested food-related posts on Instagram.
This change offers a clearer view into how Meta is blending AI with its user profiling advertising model.
There is no opt-out option for users who don’t want their chatbot interactions included in ad targeting.
However, Meta says that certain categories of information, such as discussions related to health, political or religious beliefs, race or ethnicity, and sexual orientation, will be automatically excluded from ad or content personalization.
The policy also exempts all conversations made before the December 16 rollout date. Users in South Korea, the European Union, and the UK won’t be subject to this policy, at least not at the outset.
This move ties directly into CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s ambition for a future where every person interacts with a highly intelligent digital agent.
Meta’s AI efforts are being integrated more visibly into its platforms, including a recently launched feature that curates AI-generated short video feeds.
Christy Harris, who manages privacy policy at Meta, stated that chat data will be used as one of several indicators for ad targeting. She noted that the company is still building the first ad products based on this data.
“People’s interactions simply are going to be another piece of the input that will inform the personalization of feeds and ads,” said Harris. “We’re still in the process of building the first offerings that will make use of this data.”
