Jun 01, 2025 15:00:00

Meta will reportedly automate most of the risk assessment process for products by replacing humans with AI

Internal Meta documents obtained exclusively by American public radio

NPR reveal that the company plans to replace humans with AI to perform most of the privacy risk assessments for its products.

Meta plans to replace humans with AI to assess risks : NPR
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/31/nx-s1-5407870/meta-ai-facebook-instagram-risks

Meta plans to automate many of its product risk assessments | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/31/meta-plans-to-automate-many-of-its-product-risk-assessments/

Before Meta changed its name, back when it was still Facebook (in 2012), it settled a lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over privacy settings. At that time, Meta was required by the FTC to 'conduct a privacy review of Facebook products and evaluate the risks of potential updates.' Until now, this 'privacy review of Meta products' has been conducted by human evaluators, but it has become clear that up to 90% of this could be replaced by AI evaluation.

According to internal Meta documents obtained exclusively by NPR, the new AI privacy review system will require product teams to fill out a survey about their work, which will then 'instantly' determine any privacy risks the AI identifies and requirements that updates or features must meet before being released.

This AI-based approach allows Meta to update its products more quickly, but it also comes with a higher risk of replacing humans with AI, because 'there is less chance of preventing the negative effects of a product change before it causes problems in the world,' said a former Meta executive, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In response to a request from TechCrunch, a Meta spokesperson said, 'Meta has invested more than $8 billion in its privacy program and is committed to delivering innovative products to people while meeting regulatory obligations.'

He added, 'As risks evolve and programs mature, we will enhance our processes to better identify risks, streamline decision-making, and improve the employee experience. We leverage technology to bring more consistency and predictability to low-risk decisions, and human expertise for rigorous evaluation and oversight of new or complex issues,' emphasizing the need for human privacy review.