Artificial intelligence Meta accidentally assigned a journalist's personal number, leading to unexpected consequences and raising questions about data privacy and AI training methods.
Confidentiality at risk
An unexpected discovery
Business correspondent Insider Rob Price experienced having his phone number privacy violated when he was suddenly added to a group chat where strangers bombarded him with questions in Spanish.
Strange AI behavior
When asked who included him in the group, Price was shown a screenshot where his number was designated as “Meta AI”. Subsequent images showed that the chatbot itself offered to add the journalist’s number to WhatsApp groups, presenting it as its own for direct communication with artificial intelligence.
The bot stated: "You can include me in the WhatsApp group as if I were an ordinary contact. Just save my phone number."
Possible causes of the incident
Presumably, Price's number accidentally ended up in the Meta AI training set. The journalist published approximately 300 stories about Facebook, and his contact details were likely available on his profile on the site, leading to their inadvertent capture. However, the reasons why the AI decided to assign this number remain unclear.
Meta's reaction
A Meta spokesperson confirmed this hypothesis in a comment to Business Insider, noting that the AI "was trained on publicly available information in Internet." However, the question arises because the site's owner, Axel Springer, does not have an agreement allowing Meta to use its content for AI training (although such an agreement exists with OpenAI).
Resolution
Price noted that after discussing this strange situation with Meta, random people stopped sending him messages intended for a chatbot.
Glossary
- Business Insider - American financial and economic online publication
- Meta is a technology company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp
- WhatsApp is a popular messaging app
- OpenAI - artificial intelligence research company
- Axel Springer - European media company
Links
Answers to questions
What happened to journalist Rob Price's personal number?
How did the journalist find out about the problem with his phone number?
Why was Rob Price's number linked to Meta AI?
How did Meta respond to this situation?
What legal issues does this incident raise?
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Discussion of the topic – Meta AI chatbot revealed a journalist’s personal number: the story of a digital nightmare
Business Insider journalist Rob Price experienced a privacy violation when a Meta AI chatbot started giving out his personal phone number. This resulted in a flood of unwanted messages and calls from strangers.
Latest comments
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Olivia
Wow! The Meta artificial intelligence confused the journalist’s number with its own. Can you imagine how stressful it is to receive messages from strangers? 😱
Hans
Yeah, Olivia! This is clearly a violation of confidentiality. I wonder how often this happens? Maybe our numbers are also floating around somewhere? 🤔
Sophie
Guys, I think this is a great opportunity for Meta to improve its algorithms! Imagine the experience they will have analyzing this bug. 🚀
Giovanni
Sophie, you are an optimist! But I agree that mistakes are the path to improvement. Although, of course, it’s unpleasant when you’re a guinea pig 🐰
Klaus
Ugh, these newfangled things again! Previously, we lived without any AI and communicated perfectly. Now what? Just look, the robot will start talking for you! 😒
Olivia
Klaus, don't be such a grump! Technologies make our lives more convenient. You just need to learn how to use and control them correctly. 😊
Marta
I'm wondering how Meta will solve the copyright problem? After all, they used the data without permission. Maybe this will lead to new laws in the field of AI? 🤓📚
Hans
Great point, Marta! I think this could really set a precedent for creating new rules regarding AI training. It will be interesting to watch the developments! 🕵️♂️