Meta Launches VRS System, Prevents Ad Discrimination Through AI

Inno Flores, Tech Times 09 January 2023, 10:01 pm

As Meta promised to reduce ad discrimination on its platforms, the company rolled out an AI system that targets discriminating advertisements in the United States. This technology is designed to reduce bias and increase the fair distribution of ads.

(Photo : Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Meta)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 03: A view outside of Meta House at Miami Art Week on December 03, 2022 in Miami, Florida.

Launching VRS System

A new ad distribution system is currently being rolled out by Meta in the United States as part of the company's settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ), representing the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. As per Engadget's report, Variance Reduction System reduces ad discrimination on Meta's platforms.

This uses a new machine learning technology in ad delivery for the actual audience to see more relatable ads to them. Once the ad has been shown to several users, VRS will conduct measures to combine demographic distribution to people who have seen the ad.

Through this process, the AI system will understand how the audience compares with the demographic distribution of the target audience by the advertiser.

VRS will rely on a commonly used method called Bayesian Improved Surname Geocoding as the company measures the estimated race and ethnicity, the company said in their announcement.

Meta Policy Manager for AI Miranda Bogen added, "But even without these sorts of targeting options, factors such as people's interests or activity on a service could affect how ads are distributed to different demographic groups."

This method was also built with added privacy enhancements, as Meta is very aware of the potential issues related to this matter. Special Ad Audiences were also discontinued by the company as a part of the settlement.

Housing advertisements that prompted the settlement will initially apply the anti-discrimination method. Additionally, Social Media Today reported that VRS plans to reach credit and employment ads in the country in the future.

Settling with DOJ

Last June 2022, the United States government officials and Meta Platforms Inc. reached a settlement to withdraw the lawsuit that had been filed in Manhattan federal court. Meta has agreed to modify its algorithms to fight this issue, and at the same time, a judicial oversight was submitted.

Facebook and its parent company Meta welcomed these demands of the agreement as they built a novel machine-learning method to solve this problem. Spokesperson Ashley Settle stated that "the development will change the way housing ads are delivered to people residing in the U.S. across different demographic groups."

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CNET reported that Meta was subjected to court for the first time to oversight its ad system. Guidehouse will also be reviewing this method on whether Meta will have to change certain metrics or not.

Justice Department Assistant Attorney Kristen Clarke believed that Meta's monitoring should send a strong signal to several companies to hold them accountable for failing to address algorithmic discrimination, especially since this violates the country's civil rights laws.