Meta Will Track Employees’ Keystrokes, Clicks and Mousing to Train AI

Meta will track its employees’ keystrokes, clicks and mouse movements – and even capture screenshots of what’s on their computer screens – to help train the company’s AI models. This is according to a Reuters report published on Tuesday, citing an internal memo sent to workers.

According to the memo, Meta will install new software called Model Capability Initiative on the computers of U.S.-based employees and contractors. The tracking software will run on work-related apps and websites and is part of Meta’s plan to create AI agents that can perform tasks autonomously.

The announcement, published in full by Business Insider, said the apps and URLs monitored would include Gmail, GChat and Metamate, an AI assistant for employees. Workers’ phones would not be included in the tracking.

Business Insider reported that Meta employees were “angry” over the plan to use tracking software.

On an internal communications site consulted by the media, an employee wrote: “This makes me very uncomfortable. How can we unsubscribe? »

Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s CTO, responded: “There’s no way to unsubscribe on your work laptop,” prompting staff to respond with shocked, crying and angry emoji, according to Business Insider.

As it invests in AI development – ​​more than $135 billion this year – Meta continues to downsize its workforce. The company plans to lay off about 8,000 employees, or 10% of its 79,000 employees, starting May 20. The company has reportedly cut 25,000 jobs since 2022.

Meta AI Monitoring

Meta wants to train its AI on tasks it can’t yet replicate, focusing on how people actually use their computers. This includes actions such as selecting options from drop-down menus and using keyboard shortcuts.

“This is where all Meta employees can help our models improve simply by doing their daily work,” the memo said.

Reuters said the memo was posted Tuesday by an unidentified AI research scientist on a channel of the company’s Superintelligence Labs team.

According to Reuters, Bosworth told employees that the long-term vision was for AI agents to “do the work” while employees directed them and helped them improve. He did not specify how officers would be trained with the data, but said Meta would rigorously collect data “for all types of interactions we have in the course of our work.”

Eric Null, director of the Privacy and Data Project at the digital rights organization Center for Democracy & Technology, said Meta’s plan to track employees’ computer interactions is one of the most “invasive” forms of workplace surveillance.

“This invasiveness underscores the need for clear privacy protections and AI guardrails,” Null told CNET. “This type of monitoring can cause real harm to people with disabilities, and workers in general chafe at this type of tracking. Using this data for AI training in particular has the potential to reproduce structural biases.”

In a statement given to CNET, a Meta spokesperson said employee tracking aims to give AI models “real examples” of how people interact with their computers.

“To help, we are launching an internal tool that will capture these types of inputs on certain applications to help us train our models,” the spokesperson said. “Safeguards are in place to protect sensitive content, and the data is not used for any other purpose.”

Meta said it would not use the data collected in performance reviews and managers would not be able to see it.

Business Insider cited an anonymous source as saying that when hired, employees are informed that their work devices may be monitored by Meta.

Bad optics

Bill Howe, an associate professor at the University of Washington’s School of Information, said that despite the bad looks, Meta assumes it can extract a lot of value from collecting data from employees’ computer interactions.

“Employees everywhere are helping to form the systems that will take their jobs,” Howe told CNET.

Meta appeared to improve its position in the AI ​​race earlier this month by unveiling Muse Spark, the first AI model developed by its superintelligence labs. This week, Meta also broke ground on its planned data center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which, when completed, will be the company’s 28th in the United States.

Howe said the federal government should pass new tax laws to “counteract the rampant inequality that is emerging” as multibillion-dollar tech companies continue to increase investor profits while downsizing their workforces.

“As Meta demonstrates, businesses ultimately have no incentive to care about workers, so we need solutions at the federal level,” Howe said.