Meta to track keystrokes, mouse movements for AI training; employees push back
Meta Platforms is rolling out new software on the computers of its U.S. employees that tracks keystrokes, mouse movements and screen activity to train artificial intelligence systems, Reuters reported April 21. According to information obtained, this move caused widespread reaction within the company. Business Contentreported today that the employee was pushed back.
The program is designed to help AI models better understand how humans interact with computers, such as using keyboard shortcuts and choosing from drop-down menus, the internal announcement said. “We need to train our models on real examples so that agencies understand how people complete daily tasks using computers,” the post said, adding that Meta employees can help the company make its models better by simply doing their daily tasks.
“Starting today, we are launching a tool for US-based FTEs and Contingent Workers that captures computer inputs such as mouse movements, click positions, and keystrokes, as well as screen content for context,” the post said.
Employees are stepping back
Employees expressed concern and discomfort with the initiative.
“This bothers me so much. How can we give up?” was the top-voted comment in response to the internal announcement, according to a post on Meta’s internal workplace communications site seen by . Business Content.
The most common reaction to the original announcement was the “angry face” emoji, the report said.
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth responded to the thread, saying: “There is no option to opt out on your work-provided laptop.” This comment featured a mixture of crying, shock and angry facial expressions; This showed that employees were not very happy with the initiative, despite Meta’s assurances that the collected data would not be used for other purposes.
“Measures are in place to protect sensitive content and the data is not used for any other purpose,” a Meta spokesperson said. Business Content. Across the company, Meta has been doubling down on internal AI, launching the Meta Super Intelligence Labs unit last year, rolling out AI Weeks and reorganizing staff into “AI pods.”
Meta says the tracker won’t be used on phones
Although employees cannot opt out of the monitoring software program, monitoring activity on company devices has long been standard practice at Meta, and staff are made aware of this at the time of hiring. The new program is seen as an extension of existing policies rather than a brand new policy change, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The article states that the software is limited to a list of commonly used business applications such as Gmail, GChat, and Metamate, an artificial intelligence assistant for employees. He also notes that this only applies to computers, not employees’ phones.
“This only applies to your computer, not your phone. Check out the wiki and FAQs to learn more about how the tool works, including privacy measures,” the company said in its post.
