Facebook's New Collage Feature May Use Your Images to Train AI

Meta launches a new tool for creating collages and editing photos on Facebook, available starting today. This feature, which requires confirmation, scans your gallery to select the best photos and videos, uploads them to the cloud, and uses artificial intelligence to create a fun collage or edit images. Facebook will offer collages from your photos, summaries, image remakes, or themed collections such as birthdays, graduations, or travels.

After confirmation, AI works in the background and randomly suggests edits for photos and videos that can be published. These suggestions are private, unless you choose to share them. If you share the content, your friends will see it, and Facebook will use this information to train the artificial intelligence. Meta assures that media from your gallery is not used to improve AI unless you agree to share the generated or edited content.

Facebook users in the US and Canada can already use the new feature. Sharing recommendations will appear in Stories and in the news feed. To confirm or opt-out, go to the gallery settings on Facebook: select your profile picture, navigate to the "Settings and Privacy" menu, then "Settings," and choose the "Preferences" section > "Gallery Sharing Recommendations." Users who do not want their images used for AI training should avoid activating this feature.

For added security, it is recommended to restrict Facebook's access to the entire gallery, which can be done in the app settings on iPhone. Meta is strengthening its privacy policy to enhance AI functionality and the use of interactions with it. In December, the company plans to start implementing generative AI conversations to personalize content and adjust advertising recommendations. Text exchanges and voice conversations with AI will be used in the US to personalize posts, videos, ads, and other recommendations, with the option to opt-out of such features.