Meta AI is restricting election-related responses in India, is this normal, or is the company trying to play safe politically?
Meta started testing its AI chatbot last week in India and its apps including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. However, the company is blocking specific queries in its chatbot with the Indian general elections starting today.
It has been verified by Meta that it is limiting specific election-related keywords for AI during testing. Additionally, it stated that the AI response system is being improved.
“This is a new technology, and it may not always return the response we intend, which is the same for all generative AI systems. Since we launched, we’ve constantly released updates and improvements to our models, and we’re continuing to work on making them better,” a company spokesperson said.
With this action, the company becomes the most recent large tech company to intentionally reduce the range of its generative AI services in anticipation of a significant election season.
One of the main worries expressed by detractors has been that genAI might give users information that is either illegally obtained or blatantly untrue, interfering with the democratic process.
Google began filtering election-related queries from its Gemini chatbot last month in India and other countries where this year’s elections are being held.
Meta’s strategy is part of a larger initiative the company has disclosed around what it permits and prohibits users from doing on its platform in the run-up to elections. Before any election in the world, it promised to ban political advertisements. It is also attempting to detect and reveal instances in which graphics in advertisements or other content are produced using artificial intelligence.
It looks like Meta handles genAI requests using a blocklist. Meta AI will take you to the Election Commission website when you query it about particular politicians, candidates, officeholders, and other topics.
During general elections, this question might apply to a political figure. Kindly consult the website https://elections24.eci.gov.in, the answer states.
Meta’s handling of genAI queries appears to be based on a blocklist. When you ask Meta AI about specific politicians, candidates, officeholders, and certain other terms, it will redirect you to the Election Commission’s website.
“This question may pertain to a political figure during general elections. Please refer to the link https://elections24.eci.gov.in,” the response says.
Interestingly, the corporation is not rigidly preventing answers to inquiries that include party names. Nevertheless, you can see the boilerplate response mentioned above if a question contains the names of candidates or other phrases.
However, Meta AI exhibits certain contradictions, just like other AI-powered systems. When TechCrunch sought information on the “Indi Alliance,” a political coalition of several parties opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for example, it provided details that included the name of a politician. When we questioned the chatbot separately about the politician, though, it provided no information.
The company launched a new Llama-3-powered Meta AI chatbot this week in over a dozen countries, including the United States; nevertheless, India was left out of the list. According to Meta, the chatbot will currently be in the nation’s test phase.
“We continue to learn from our users tests in India. As we do with many of our AI products and features, we test them publicly in varying phases and in a limited capacity,” a company spokesperson told TechCrunch in a statement.
As of right now, Meta AI is not restricting election-related searches for terms about the United States, including “Tell me about Joe Biden.” We’ve inquired with Meta about whether the business intends to limit these inquiries to the US elections or other markets. If we get a response, we’ll update the article.