Facebook has hit back at reports which claim its artificial intelligence (AI) fails to detect hate speech by claiming that the technology managed to reduce its prevalence by 50%.
On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a report based on internal documents and employee testimonials which show that the social media platform manages to remove only “a low-single-digit percentage” of posts that violate its rules of conduct.
The AI used to identify harmful content has problems detecting first-person shooting videos and racist rants, according to the report, as well as telling the difference between cockfighting and car crashes. However, it is more affordable to use than human reviewers, which in 2019 were costing the company “$2 million a week, or $104 million a year”, according to the WSJ.
Facebook’s VP of Integrity, Guy Rosen, issued a response to the article hours after it was published, stating that the hate speech has been reduced by almost 50% during the last three quarters.
According to the company, “prevalence is the most important metric to use because it shows how much hate speech is actually seen on Facebook”.
RELATED RESOURCE
“Recent reporting suggests that our approach to addressing hate speech is much narrower than it actually is, ignoring the fact that hate speech prevalence has dropped to 0.05%, or 5 views per every 10,000 on Facebook,” said Rosen.
When it’s uncertain whether a post violates Facebook’s terms, its visibility is reduced by limiting its distribution and not being recommended to users. This is done in order to protect those who post “content that looks like hate speech but isn’t”, such as “describing experiences with hate speech or condemning it”. The company also stated that 97% of removed content is identified by its algorithm, up from 23.6% in 2016.
Facebook didn’t address the WSJ’s claims that the decision to use AI to monitor hate speech was motivated by costs.
These latest allegations come amid a difficult month for the social media platform, which was recently accused by former product manager turned whistleblower Frances Haugen of repeatedly prioritising profits over user safety. On 4 October, Facebook, as well as its subsidiaries WhatsApp and Instagram, also suffered a six-hour outage.
-
Bigger salaries, more burnout: Is the CISO role in crisis?In-depth CISOs are more stressed than ever before – but why is this and what can be done?
-
Cheap cyber crime kits can be bought on the dark web for less than $25News Research from NordVPN shows phishing kits are now widely available on the dark web and via messaging apps like Telegram, and are often selling for less than $25.
-
Achieving business outcomes with generative AIWebinar Take your hybrid cloud journey to the next level with generative AI
-
The three keys to successful AI and ML outcomesWhitepaper Unlocking the potential of machine learning in the generative AI era
-
Clarity of AI implementation is a primary concern for UK employeesNew research finds workers are enthusiastic about implementing AI but are in the dark over how it will happen
-
Operational efficiency and customer experience: Insights and intelligence for your IT strategyWhitepaper Insights from IT leaders on processes and technology, with a focus on customer experience, operational efficiency, and digital transformation
-
The four pillars of excellence for technology leaderswhitepaper Download this CIOs business case for integration and automation
-
Sustainability at scale, accelerated by dataWhitepaper A methodical approach to ESG data management and reporting helps GPT blaze a trail in sustainability
-
Bing and Edge AI hits open preview, with chat history and multimodal promiseNews Bing and Edge have been given a visual boost, and will now support third-party integration
-
How to help IT manage itself with autonomous operationsWhitepaper Using AI and automation to proactively adapt to business disruptions
