Facebook Trains AI to Detect and Block Marijuana Photos
Recently, Facebook’s management revealed to industry media that the company’s programmers are actively training the social network’s artificial intelligence to recognize photos containing images of marijuana. For several months now, the AI has been learning to identify marijuana and its fragments in photos with various plants, working to separate prohibited images from millions of pictures featuring broccoli, cauliflower, and other leafy greens.
Of course, artificial intelligence is unlikely to fully replace the work of system administrators in the coming years. However, Mike Schroepfer, Facebook’s Head of New Technologies, stated at the company’s annual technology conference last week that Facebook will continue to invest heavily in the development and improvement of computer vision technology.
Challenges in Image Recognition
To illustrate the complexity of quickly recognizing objects in photos—a task that can challenge even trained professionals—Mr. Schroepfer showed attendees a selection of images featuring various greens that closely resemble parts of a marijuana plant. After the demonstration, he announced that the company is already testing the first working version of its AI program, which can accurately recognize and filter images not only by content but also by context. This will allow Facebook’s servers to process billions of photos daily, blocking content that violates the platform’s terms of service (such as illegal marijuana sales) without affecting pages and materials related to legal organizations.
Background and Future Plans
It’s worth noting that last year, Facebook, which has long maintained a strict policy against marijuana-related content, found itself at the center of a public scandal after blocking the page of the Canadian Institute of Health in Montreal for posting materials about medical marijuana. It’s possible that the company decided to invest in new technology to avoid similar controversies in the future, especially as support for marijuana reform continues to grow.
Additionally, it’s likely that Facebook wants to win back legal cannabis-related content from new competitor platforms like Jadeo and CaneXions, which are designed specifically for marijuana enthusiasts seeking social networks that don’t discriminate against users.