- Meta’s Model Capability Initiative installs mouse tracking software on company-provided PCs
- User activity is monitored to train future AI models to autonomously control computers
- Workers fear future AI systems could replace human jobs
Meta employees have begun protesting the company’s implementation of mouse tracking software on work devices, but it’s not exclusively for privacy reasons.
Facebook’s parent company is reportedly installing software that monitors mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes, menu and drop-down navigation and even what’s on users’ screens, and all of this is said to help train AI agents to perform real-world computing tasks more naturally.
Consequently, workers are now fighting this measure over fears that they are effectively helping to train AI systems that could eventually replace members of the workforce.
Now, according to PakGazetteposters appear in Meta offices asking: “Don’t you want to work in the employee data extraction factory?”
“If we’re building agents to help people complete everyday tasks using computers, our models need real examples of how people actually use them,” explained Meta spokesperson Andy Stone.
The Model Capability Initiative (MCI) was revealed internally in an April 22 memo and promised an opportunity for “all Meta employees [to] aid [its] Models improve simply by doing their daily work.”
However, reports suggest that there is no opt-out option for employees using company-issued devices, giving them no say in the matter.
The timing of this is not insignificant: we already know that Meta will lay off around 10% of its workers (or 8,000 people) this month.
“Meta workers are paying the price for management’s reckless and costly bets,” added United Tech and Allied Workers (UTAW) organizer Eleanor Payne.
“As executives pursue speculative AI strategies, staff face devastating job cuts, draconian surveillance, and the cruel reality of being forced to train the inefficient systems being positioned to replace them.”
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