Meta's Joel Kaplan said two recent mistakes regarding political content were due to technical problems, not bias. Reuters
Meta's Joel Kaplan said two recent mistakes regarding political content were due to technical problems, not bias. Reuters
Meta's Joel Kaplan said two recent mistakes regarding political content were due to technical problems, not bias. Reuters
Meta's Joel Kaplan said two recent mistakes regarding political content were due to technical problems, not bias. Reuters

AI chatbots ‘not always reliable’ for breaking news, Meta warns after Trump content issues


Cody Combs
  • English
  • Arabic

Two recent Meta AI-related issues regarding content about Donald Trump were the result of technical mistakes and not bias, said the vice president of global policy for the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

“It's a known issue that AI chatbots, including Meta AI, are not always reliable when it comes to breaking news or returning information in real time,” said Meta’s Joel Kaplan.

“We are constantly working to make our products better and will continue to quickly address any issues as they arise,” he added.

Mr Kaplan was referring to a photograph of the former US president and 2024 Republican presidential nominee that Meta’s systems incorrectly flagged as digitally altered and manipulated, and several instances where Meta’s AI chatbot appeared to not respond to any inquiries about the assassination attempt on Mr Trump's life.

Meta’s statement gave a rare insight into the company’s approach to handling potential misinformation on the platform, showing the difficulty of implementing those plans given the pace of breaking news, the imperfect nature of AI technology, and the uncertainty about how consumers will use it.

US Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face and surrounded by secret service agents after an assassination attempt on July 13. AFP
US Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face and surrounded by secret service agents after an assassination attempt on July 13. AFP

Mr Kaplan said AI chatbots largely rely on large amounts of data, making them less than ideal for handling a fluid breaking news event, also making it almost impossible to ensure the accuracy of all the data upon which the chatbots are trained.

“Rather than have Meta AI give incorrect information about the attempted assassination, we programmed it to simply not answer questions about it after it happened – and instead give a generic response about how it couldn’t provide any information,” he added, explaining that Meta had since updated the chatbot to some extent, while acknowledging that that it probably should have been done sooner.

Mr Kaplan also explained what many consider to be an continuing flaw with chatbots when used to consume news about events similar to the Trump assassination attempt.

“There is initially an enormous amount of confusion, conflicting information or outright conspiracy theories in the public domain,” he said.

The lengthy post on Meta’s news blog also addressed a photo of Mr Trump taken shortly after the assassination attempt on July 13, which the company’s systems incorrectly applied a fact check label to.

Meta said the photo of Mr Trump was incorrectly flagged as altered because of its resemblance to another photo which its systems had correctly identified as being doctored.

“When a fact check label is applied, our technology detects content that is the same or almost exactly the same as those rated by fact checkers, and adds a label to that content as well,” the company said.

“Given the similarities between the doctored photo and the original image – which are only subtly (although importantly) different – our systems incorrectly applied that fact check to the real photo, too.”

In response, Mr Trump did not mince his words, appearing to disregard much of Meta's statement.

“Facebook has just admitted that it wrongly censored the Trump 'attempted assassination photo',” he posted to his Truth Social platform. “They made it virtually impossible to find pictures or anything about this heinous act.”

Meta is not alone in facing occasional problems of implementing AI tools while also ensuring accuracy amid a sea of misinformation and disinformation.

Earlier this year, Alphabet-owned Google was forced to suspend the image generation tool included in its AI platform Gemini, following criticism over its creation of historically inaccurate images.

In 2022, shortly after deploying its BlenderBot 3 chatbot, Meta addressed various inaccurate statements.

Media reports at the time said the bot claimed that Mr Trump “always will be” US president, among other inaccurate comments.

While many Big Tech companies are taking steps to increase the disclosure for content created with AI, there is little consensus or government regulation on how it should be done.

Microsoft, in a recent report, stressed the need for the entire industry and regulators to protect people from abusive and misleading AI content.

“One of the most important things the US can do is pass a comprehensive deepfake fraud statute,” an introduction to the report read.

“We don't have all the solutions or perfect ones, but we want to contribute to and accelerate action.”

Hotel Data Cloud profile

Date started: June 2016
Founders: Gregor Amon and Kevin Czok
Based: Dubai
Sector: Travel Tech
Size: 10 employees
Funding: $350,000 (Dh1.3 million)
Investors: five angel investors (undisclosed except for Amar Shubar)

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Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm

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Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto

Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km

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At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17

At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253

'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'

Director:Michael Lehmann

Stars:Kristen Bell

Rating: 1/5

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%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20flag%20was%20first%20unveiled%20on%20December%202%2C%201971%2C%20the%20day%20the%20UAE%20was%20formed.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIt%20was%20designed%20by%20Abdullah%20Mohammed%20Al%20Maainah%2C%2019%2C%20an%20Emirati%20from%20Abu%20Dhabi.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMr%20Al%20Maainah%20said%20in%20an%20interview%20with%20%3Cem%3EThe%20National%3C%2Fem%3E%20in%202011%20he%20chose%20the%20colours%20for%20local%20reasons.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20black%20represents%20the%20oil%20riches%20that%20transformed%20the%20UAE%2C%20green%20stands%20for%20fertility%20and%20the%20red%20and%20white%20colours%20were%20drawn%20from%20those%20found%20in%20existing%20emirate%20flags.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Other key dates
  • Finals draw: December 2
  • Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
  • Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
  • Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
The specs: 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor

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Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

The specs

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The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The six points:

1. Ministers should be in the field, instead of always at conferences

2. Foreign diplomacy must be left to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation

3. Emiratisation is a top priority that will have a renewed push behind it

4. The UAE's economy must continue to thrive and grow

5. Complaints from the public must be addressed, not avoided

6. Have hope for the future, what is yet to come is bigger and better than before

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Top New Zealand cop on policing the virtual world

New Zealand police began closer scrutiny of social media and online communities after the attacks on two mosques in March, the country's top officer said.

The killing of 51 people in Christchurch and wounding of more than 40 others shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, was accused of the killings. His trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.

Mike Bush, commissioner of New Zealand Police, said officers looked closely at how they monitored social media in the wake of the tragedy to see if lessons could be learned.

“We decided that it was fit for purpose but we need to deepen it in terms of community relationships, extending them not only with the traditional community but the virtual one as well," he told The National.

"We want to get ahead of attacks like we suffered in New Zealand so we have to challenge ourselves to be better."

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

The specs

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Company Profile

Company name: Yeepeey

Started: Soft launch in November, 2020

Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani

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Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

When Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi

  

 

 

 

Known as The Lady of Arabic Song, Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 1971, as part of celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A concert hall was constructed for the event on land that is now Al Nahyan Stadium, behind Al Wahda Mall. The audience were treated to many of Kulthum's most well-known songs as part of the sold-out show, including Aghadan Alqak and Enta Omri.

 
The Details

Kabir Singh

Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series

Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa

Rating: 2.5/5 

Updated: July 31, 2024, 9:40 AM`