Use of data is a hot topic, with generative AI models requiring regular access to information to provide up-to-date outputs. Meta is among the companies that have expressed concerns to the Productivity Commission that changes to Australia’s Privacy Act could impede the effectiveness of AI technologies.
As reported by Guardian Australia‘s Josh Taylor, Meta is one of many major companies, including Amazon, Google, and Telstra, to submit a public response to the Australian government’s Productivity Commission about how digital technology harnesses data. The Commission’s consultation sought to identify how AI could aid productivity while being conscious of data privacy.
“Meta has found that the nature of AI technology necessitates the processing of comprehensive real data to avoid biases and ensure language accuracy,” said Meta via its submission.
Facebook’s parent company added that training on local data was important so that its AI models could accurately represent “Australian concepts”. Without mentioning any specifics, Meta stated that the company is “concerned that recent developments are moving Australia’s privacy regime to be out of step with international norms”, likely referencing the controversial upcoming youth social media ban.
Meta confirmed last year that it uses data obtained from Australian Facebook users to train its AI models. Users in the European Union can opt out of data scraping, but the feature isn’t available in Australia.
Amazon’s submission also argued against the effectiveness of an “ex ante” model proposed by the ACCC. It’s a model intended to proactively prevent anti-competitive behaviour, which forms the basis of the EU’s Digital Markets Act, a regulation Amazon believes would reduce investment opportunities.
The Productivity Commission will publish a draft report of recommendations in August, ahead of another round of consultations, before handing its final report to the government in December.
