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Facebook ‘labels’ many posts by hand as part of efforts to ‘train’ AI software, putting the spotlight on privacy

  • The Wipro work in India is among about 200 content labelling projects that Facebook has at any time, employing thousands of people globally

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Facebook has unveiled a redesign that focuses on the Groups feature of its main social network, doubling down on a successful but controversial part of its namesake app and another sign that Facebook is moving toward more private, intimate communication. Photo: Bloomberg

Over the past year, a team of as many as 260 contract workers in Hyderabad, India has ploughed through millions of Facebook photos, status updates and other content posted since 2014.

The workers categorise items according to five “dimensions,” as Facebook calls them.

These include the subject of the post – is it food, for example, or a selfie or an animal? What is the occasion – an everyday activity or major life event? And what is the author’s intention – to plan an event, to inspire, to make a joke?

The work is aimed at understanding how the types of things users post on its services are changing, Facebook said. That can help the company develop new features, potentially increasing usage and ad revenue.

Details of the effort were provided by multiple employees at outsourcing firm Wipro over several months. The workers spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation by the Indian firm. Facebook later confirmed many details of the project. Wipro declined to comment and referred all questions to Facebook.

The Wipro work is among about 200 content labelling projects that Facebook has at any time, employing thousands of people globally, company officials told Reuters. Many projects are aimed at “training” the software that determines what appears in users’ news feeds and powers the artificial intelligence underlying many other features.

The labelling efforts have not previously been reported.

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