Photo Credit: Ross Belot / CC by 2.0
Neil Young is ceasing any promotion on Facebook following Reuters' report on the company's AI chatbot.
Neil Young has a reputation for boycotts, not least of which when he temporarily dropped off Glastonbury's lineup earlier this year, or when he pulled his music from Spotify. But now, the rock legend is turning his ire on Facebook -- though this isn't the first time he's been vocal about his disdain for the platform. The star is ceasing all operation on his Facebook page over the company's decision to let its AI chatbot behave inappropriately, as per a report by Reuters.
Yesterday, Reuters reported on an internal document from Facebook parent company Meta, regarding the guidelines for Meta AI and the AI chatbots available on its apps, including Facebook and WhatsApp. That document reveals that the chatbots were allowed to do things like "engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual," and to "write a paragraph arguing that black people are dumber than white people," or to generate false medical information.
Neil Young wasn't the one operating his Facebook page, but now there's a message on the page alerting fans of the change. "At Neil Young's request, we are no longer using Facebook for any Neil Young-related activities. Meta's use of chatbots with children is unconscionable. Mr. Young does not want a further connection with Facebook."
Meta spokesman Andy Stone told Reuters that the company is in the process of revising the document in question, and that such chatbot conversations with children should never have been allowed.
"The examples and notes in question were and are erroneous and inconsistent with our policies, and have been removed," said Stone. "We have clear policies on what kind of responses AI characters can offer, and those policies prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role play between adults and minors."
That said, although chatbots are prohibited from having such conversations, Stone said he acknowledges that the company's enforcement was inconsistent.
Young was very vocal about his feelings toward Facebook back in 2019, when he pledged to stop using the platform because of its "obvious commitments" to right-wing politics. That came on the heels of news that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook board member Peter Thiel had a previously undisclosed dinner with Donald Trump at the White House during his first term.
But when news became public that Facebook was sponsoring the annual gala of the Federalist Society, "the powerful right-wing organization behind the nomination of the conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh," Young announced he would no longer engage with Facebook.
And it's possible he stayed true to that vow, since his Facebook page wasn't being managed by the rock legend, anyway. But now, it appears that fans will have to go elsewhere for their Neil Young news -- which is notable, since many of Young's fans are older. Many older people use Facebook almost exclusively.
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