Meta AI and online brand protection

 

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has just launched various functions and services of its AI assistant, Meta AI, in 61 countries, including all EU countries and several others like the UK, Switzerland, Norway and Serbia.

 

Available in the US since 2023, Meta AI is a free conversational AI assistant designed to help users with various areas of searches, including product searches and comparisons.

 

The European entry of Meta AI was repeatedly delayed due to various legal restrictions in the EU, mainly centered around the protection of user data, GDPR. The strongest concern is that Meta routinely trains its AI on data generated by its users, while in the EU, they’re only allowed to do that with valid legal reasons.

 

| Meta AI's European entry was delayed by legal restrictions related to GDPR

 

This means that the features launched in Europe will be different from those experienced by users elsewhere in the world, as the AI won’t be trained on local EU user data. As a start, Meta AI now acts as a chatbot integrated into Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp in six languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Italian.

 

Users have the option to chat with and ask questions from Meta AI, including pulling it into a group chat to share valuable information. In WhatsApp and Messenger, the search bar on top now features the option to engage with Meta AI, as does a little blue circle in the bottom right corner.

 

   

Screenshots of WhatsApp displaying Meta AI’s new features available in Europe

 

You can see the two ways to engage Meta AI on the first screenshot above, while the second displays the landing page the little blue circle leads to.

 

In addition, users can now add AI-generated comments on Instagram posts and reels, which may point to eventual goals of monetisation, including paid recommendations and premium features.

 

Meta AI currently has around 700 million monthly active users. In comparison, ChatGPT has 400 million users and Google’s Gemini 275 million, which places Meta AI right in the lead of AI assistant usage statistics.

 

Screenshot of ai.meta.com displaying the homepage of Meta AI

 

But besides transforming the way we seek and process information, Meta AI also has significant implications for the world of online brand protection.

 

 

How Meta AI affects your brand’s IP rights

AI tools, just like any other tool designed to make its users’ lives easier, can bring devastating consequences should they fall into the wrong hands. And since these tools are readily available online, it doesn’t take a genius to recognise that they’re already in the wrong hands.

 

Fraudsters can use AI to steal and duplicate your brand’s IP-protected assets, like product pictures, ads, and even your entire website. Indeed, AI can also be used to create fake webshops to sell fraudulent versions of your products.

 

| Fraudsters can use AI to steal and duplicate your brand’s IP-protected assets

 

As the AI apps can be trained on your genuine brand content, the similarities will be even more striking, making it even harder for consumers to detect the difference between fake and original.

 

Learn all about how to recognise a fake!

 

Texts and images can be created in your brand’s style, fooling consumers into believing they’ve got your genuine content. The speed and ease with which fraudsters can get convincing results significantly increases with AI, which also suggests that we’ll be seeing a lot more of them than before.

 

Unfortunately, with the potential to create IP-infringing content en masse, we expect a significant rise in both the quality and quantity of infringing content, which could have devastating effects on your brand’s reputation.

 

However, not all news is bad on this front.

 

 

Related topics

AI and online brand protection

 

The value in your brand’s reputation

 

A bad influence: fakes promoted on social media

 

IP protection in the metaverse

 

 

Meta’s new AI-powered brand protection tools

We at globaleyez have developed an extensive network consisting of industry actors like marketplaces, domain registries and social media platforms to best protect our clients’ IP rights. Naturally, Meta is included in this network, which means we get to use Meta’s own tools and much more in our clients’ interests.

 

For instance, Meta’s updated Brand Rights Protection Manager now uses improved AI-powered matching features, enhanced search options and an extended reference library. Similarly, the new IP protection reporting centre employs AI support to centralise the tracking of IP infringements. In addition, AI-based mass actions are now enabled in the improved Rights Manager, along with automatic blocking and image attribution.

 

However, while single tools can help you fight back against fraudsters, they’re not enough to actually win the war. For that, you’ll need a comprehensive online brand protection strategy.

 

| Meta’s Brand Rights Protection Manager now uses AI-powered matching features, search options and a reference library

 

 

Effective brand protection strategies in the Meta-ecosystem

Thanks to our long history of successful cooperation, we at globaleyez have access to and invaluable experience with all of Meta’s IP protection tools. But we can offer you even more.

 

Our social media monitoring service is designed for detecting infringing content on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Whether designed by AI or the traditional way, we quickly flag ads, posts, images and any other content that may infringe on your IP rights.

 

Our special tools for recognising good quality AI imitations include OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) searches and expert evaluations. These are essential for getting a fuller picture of fraudsters and detecting potential links between them.

 

New developments require innovative responses, especially when it comes to countering the efforts of inventive fraudsters. Therefore, we recommend that you adapt your trademark applications to virtual environments and ensure that your IP rights are protected even in newly established spaces like Web 3.0.

 

Even if your brand doesn’t want to engage with Web3.0 at the moment, chances are that fraudsters are already there, acting in your name and stealing your revenue. Our experience shows that this scenario happens more often than not, which makes it even more crucial to register your IP rights and purchase domains associated with your brand on Web 3.0 as well.

 

If you have employees responsible for managing your brand’s online protection, make sure to train them in AI applications so they can better recognise AI-powered infringements and act accordingly.

 

But detecting infringements is not enough; you also have to ensure that they’re removed from Meta’s platforms (and any other corner of the internet), or they’ll continue to harm your brand. Our enforcement service does just that. By removing all infringing content, your brand can enjoy a clean environment on Facebook & Co that allows your products to shine.

 

 

Conclusion

The age of AI is upon us, and we need to adapt our actions to make the most of the opportunities it presents while evading its dangers.

 

Contact us if you’re worried about AI-supported IP infringements or any other issue that may harm your brand’s IP rights.