This week’s top stories: Apple's new AI plans, Instagram CEO downplays the value of hashtags, and social algorithms scrutinized as “addictive”
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Welcome to the Battenhall Weekly, Edition #19
Generative AI took center stage at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, with the company announcing Apple Intelligence: a new context-driven AI feature that will soon give users personalized AI assistance to enhance messaging, image creation, task management and more. The company also revealed that its own chatbot, Siri, will be integrated with ChatGPT across all Apple devices. These announcements are serious developments for Apple in the AI arms race, as the tech giant has been quiet on its plans compared to competitors such as Meta and Google.
Instagram is considering allowing users to cross-post their Stories directly to WhatsApp. Adding WhatsApp as a destination for Stories could provide even more avenues for content distribution, especially considering the WhatsApp Status user base is now up to 450 million daily active users. The integration is only speculative due to details in back-end code, but could present an intriguing opportunity for content creators and businesses alike if implemented.
In a Reels post this week, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said the impact of using hashtags for reach is minimal, although they can help users when searching for specific content. But Meta’s Threads platform could be an exception to the rule. Previously the app had limited the number of tags users could add to prevent spamming, but it now appears to be testing methods to encourage usage, such as reminders in the composer flow and potentially reintroducing the "#" marker. This could help users find content and relevant topics as the network continues to grow.
New York’s Legislature has passed the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids act, which aims to ban social media platforms from using “addictive” recommendation algorithms for child users. Proponents argue that social media’s algorithms contribute to children’s mental health issues and advocate for regulatory action. The bill could face legal hurdles, as many tech groups have challenged similar laws in other states, citing First Amendment violations. Critics claim that such laws may infringe on the rights of companies and users, suggesting privacy and antitrust legislation as alternatives.
Meta recently informed its EU and UK users of privacy policy changes that it plans to use public posts, images, captions, comments and Stories for training AI tools. Digital rights groups, such as Noyb, have criticized Meta's proposal and filed complaints with 11 data protection authorities across Europe to halt the initiative. Meta has defended its approach, stating the need for compliance with privacy laws and emphasizing the importance of diverse data to train AI models.
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