Meta To Track Mouse Movements And Keystrokes Of Employees To Train AI Models

Meta will install a tracking software on the work computers of its employees that will track their mouse movements, clicks and keystrokes to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models. In a memo to the staff this week, the tool called Model Capability Initiative (MCI), belonging to the Meta Superintelligence Labs team, will run on a designated list of work apps and websites and occasionally take snapshots of the content on employees' screens.

The purpose of the tool, as per the memo, is to improve the company's AI models in areas where they struggle to replicate how humans interact with computers, like choosing from dropdown menus and using keyboard shortcuts.

"If we're building agents to help people complete everyday tasks using computers, our models need real examples of how people actually use them," a Meta spokesperson was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Meta added that the data will not be used for any other purpose and that the tool has 'safeguards in place to protect sensitive content'.

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Meta Pushing For AI

In a separate memo, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth on Monday said the company would step up internal data collection as part of "AI for Work" efforts, now re-branded as Agent Transformation Accelerator (ATA).

"The vision we are building towards is one where our agents primarily do the work and our role is to direct, review and help them improve," Bosworth said.

Meta using its employees to train AI models, comes in the backdrop of the company preparing to lay off about 10 per cent of its global workforce, or close to 8,000 workers, in the initial round. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into AI as he seeks to dramatically reshape his company's inner workings around the technology, reflecting a broader pattern among major US companies this year, particularly in the tech sector.

Meta's layoffs this year will be the social media giant's most significant since a restructuring in late 2022 and early 2023 that it dubbed the "year of efficiency," when it eliminated about 21,000 jobs.