Facebook competes with Google and Microsoft, hiring AI experts and reshuffling its management

Facebook has been taking on some of the top names in AI and making management changes to help head off criticism about addiction to the site and its ‘fake news’ problem as artificial intelligence becomes ever more important

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Artificial intelligence is the key to the future of Facebook.

Published: 6:17pm, 27 Jan 2018Updated: 5:47pm, 28 Jan 2018

Facebook’s hiring of French artificial-intelligence trailblazer Yann LeCun in 2013 to start its AI research lab signalled that the social media giant was serious about competing in the kinds of technologies revolutionising the web. Its highly visible brand of AI helped turn the flood of pictures, pokes and personal data into one of the world’s most popular websites.

But criticism over election-meddling ads, “fake news” and the social network’s impact on mental health – problems that Facebook is looking to artificial intelligence to help solve – has sparked questions over whether Facebook is keeping up with its rivals in the aggressively competitive world of AI development and research.

Yann LeCun has been moved to a more limited role in AI strategy. Photo: AFP

Facebook recently shook up its AI management, shifting LeCun to a more limited role in AI strategy, direction and external “evangelism.” To manage the technology’s growth, Facebook hired Jérôme Pesenti, who previously led IBM’s AI platform Watson, as vice-president of AI.

The change in leadership highlights the rapid advancement of AI at Facebook – and how far it still needs to go.

Pedro Domingos’ book The Master Algorithm.

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