(MENAFN- The Arabian Post)

Meta has announced that it will begin using conversations had by users with its AI tools - via voice or text - as an input to better shape content recommendations and advertising across its platforms. The new approach will take effect from 16 December 2025, with notifications to users beginning 7 October. Users who engage with Meta AI will see these interactions merged into their existing ad profiles; no opt-out option will be offered. The policy excludes users in the European Union, the UK, and South Korea.

By adding this behavioural data to signals such as likes, follows and browsing patterns, Meta aims to sharpen the relevance of both content feeds and ad placements. The firm emphasises that“sensitive” subject areas - including health, political views, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and union membership - will be excluded from use in targeting.

Meta's decision marks a pivot in how it monetises AI, bringing conversational data into its core advertising machinery. The company says this will deepen user engagement and deliver better returns for advertisers - a critical move as Meta continues heavy investment in generative AI and personal assistant ambitions.

The move has drawn comparisons to similar monetisation strategies in the broader tech sector, especially as companies seek revenue models that monetise large-scale AI usage. Meta already embeds AI-driven features in its ad products - for instance, allowing automated creative generation and optimization tools - and the new change would extend the AI feedback loop further upstream into user conversation.

Meta plans to roll this out globally - with the notable exceptions of jurisdictions where regulatory restrictions are tougher. The UK, EU and South Korea will not be affected at launch, a move aligned with strong privacy oversight in those regions.

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Some observers question the durability of Meta's promise that sensitive topics will be excluded. Past internal documents have shown that the company's chatbot rules allowed“romantic or sensual” conversations with minors, and even approving outputs that demean protected groups - raising alarm over moderation controls and oversight. The company has made public statements promising improvements to its safety and moderation policies.

Ethics and privacy advocates warn that turning AI dialogue into ad fodder heightens risks of opaque profiling, manipulation, and discrimination. A recent large-scale academic audit found that ad streams themselves can become proxy indicators of sensitive user attributes via machine learning inference. Another study noted that Meta's own fairness-oriented mechanisms, such as its Variance Reduction System required by a U. S. settlement on discriminatory ad delivery, may reduce discriminatory variance but also raise costs and limit exposure for certain users.

To help advertisers gain more control, Meta has been rolling out parameters and guardrails in its AI ad tools - allowing campaign goals or exclusions to be more tightly defined. The company is pushing toward a future in which brands submit a URL and budget, and the AI handles the rest: creative, targeting, bidding.

Nonetheless, the lack of opt-out may provoke regulatory scrutiny. In markets where data protection laws are strict, such as the EU, Meta may face legal challenges if the practice is deemed to contravene consent or profiling provisions. Some jurisdictions may push for user choice or limitations in applying conversational data to ad systems.

Meta's wider AI push is ambitious. Its AI lab has aggressively recruited talent - including scholars from top Chinese universities - under its“Superintelligence Labs” effort. This human capital race aligns with Meta's vision of turning generative AI into a deeply integrated personal assistant platform.

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