Meta Bans Usage of Generative AI Ad Creation Tools for Political Advertisers
– According to an exclusive report by Reuters, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has made it clear that political campaigns and advertisers are not permitted to utilize its generative artificial intelligence (AI) advertising tools. In an update to its help center, Meta has explicitly stated that political advertisers are barred from employing its newly introduced generative AI ad campaign creation tools.
On Nov. 6, Meta updated its help center to reflect the decision. In a note explaining how the tools work, the company said as it tests new generative AI ads creation tools in its Ads Manager, “advertisers running campaigns that qualify as ads for Housing, Employment or Credit or Social Issues, Elections, or Politics, or related to Health, Pharmaceuticals or Financial Services aren’t currently permitted to use these Generative AI features.”
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“We believe this approach will allow us to better understand potential risks and build the right safeguards for the use of Generative AI in ads that relate to potentially sensitive topics in regulated industries.” Meta’s overall advertising guidelines do not contain specific regulations concerning AI, but they do forbid advertisements featuring content that has been disproven by their fact-checking partners from running on the platform.
In September, Google revised its political content policy, requiring all verified election advertisers to disclose their use of AI in their campaign materials. Google’s standards call out “synthetic content that inauthentically depicts real or realistic-looking people or events” and say the notices must be “clear and conspicuous” in places where users will notice them.
However, on Google’s platforms, “Ads that contain synthetic content altered or generated in such a way that is inconsequential to the claims made in the ad will be exempt from these disclosure requirements.” US regulators are exploring the establishment of guidelines for political AI deep fakes leading up to the 2024 election season. Concerns about AI’s influence on social media, potentially swaying voter opinions through the dissemination of false information, have already emerged.
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The ease of access to AI technology enables the production of fake news and deep fakes, among other things. Furthermore, there have been allegations of a left-leaning political bias in one of the most popular AI chatbots, ChatGPT. Nevertheless, these claims face significant disagreement within the AI community and academic circles.