When it comes to artificial intelligence and computer algorithms, we still have a long way to go. The recent proof of it was a disaster by popular photo-sharing platform Instagram. Recently the social media platform's algorithm used an offensive photo to promote itself on Facebook. The caption of the photo read, "I Will Rape You," reported The Guardian.
Reportedly, one reported of the publication Olivia Solon recently learned that Instagram was advertising its platform on Facebook using a screenshot that she had taken and posted on Instagram about a year ago. The screenshot was a hateful e-mail that she had received, which read, "I will rape you before I kill you, you filthy w***e!" The subject line of the email was "Olivia, you f*****g b***h!!!!!!!!"
It's the perfect example of how Instagram's algorithm accidentally promoted hate speech ad the platform failed to weed it out.
Instagram reportedly turned the aforementioned screenshot into an advertisement of itself and displayed it on Solon's sister's Facebook feed with the line, "See Olivia Solon's photo and posts from friends on Instagram."
According to The Verge, Instagram apologized for the incident by issuing a statement, which read, "We are sorry this happened — it's not the experience we want someone to have. This notification post was surfaced as part of an effort to encourage engagement on Instagram. Posts are generally received by a small percentage of a person's Facebook friends."
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Just about last week Facebook, the company that owns Instagram, faced serious criticism for allowing advertisers to target users, who are interested in the "jew hater" and "how to burn jews" categories. Some users had listed these categories on their Facebook profiles. While responding to the incident, Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg wrote in a post, "We never intended or anticipated this functionality being used this way — and that is on us."
