Aitarget examines key announcements from Day 2 of F8 2019

Responsible innovation

Facebook Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer began the keynote address on Day 2 by addressing some elephants in the room in terms of social media misuse:

“I am as optimistic about the future as I’ve ever been… It’s true that we, and I, have learned a lot of really hard lessons over the last few years, and those lessons have fundamentally changed the way we develop and build new technologies. Made us realise… not just the amazing good that can come from new technology, but the bad, the unintended consequences, the ways in which people may abuse those new technologies.”

Even though the challenge is clear, issues relating to election interference, misinformation, and hate speech are complex and the solutions aren’t simple, admitted Schroepfer. As we all, the CTO would love to get an easy 1-2-3 innovation playbook, but it just doesn’t work that way.

Instead, Facebook is dedicating itself to continuously tackling these problems on a daily basis. Each product team includes a special group dealing with the specific challenges faced by that product. Those building new features work alongside those investigating drawbacks.

Facebook is committed to engaging with experts at each stage of creating new products and features, said Schroepfer. They will work with “a spectrum of organisations on each and every core issue we have”, such as save.org for suicide prevention.

The CTO took the audience through the challenges faced with problematic content, and the steady progress made with increasing use of AI to proactively detect problems (before users report them).

As an example, Schroepfer demonstrated the F8 2019 audience how difficult it was even for humans to distinguish between tempura broccoli and marijuana in an image.

Five years ago Facebook could only detect drug-related content using keywords. The development of computer vision (CV) made it easier to detect violating content in images – the task with which the audience struggled – and now AI could even detected packaged drugs like those pictured in the image above on the right.

Search and destroy

In recent years Facebook has worked hard to develop AI technology that with as little supervision as possible proactively detects content that violates Facebook policies.

While developing tools can be challenging – especially as they’re working against bad actors actively trying to get around defenses – the overall goal can be simply encapsulated, said Schroepfer:

Manohar Paluri of the Facebook AI shared how a digital common language was being created which helps catch harmful content across many languages by utilising advances in natural language processing (NLP).

A new approach to object recognition, Panoptic FPN helps AI-powered systems understand context from photo backgrounds. Nowadays AI can help proactively address problematic content across any medium on social media (text, images, video).

Paluri began his speech by stating that nowadays Facebook “cannot exist without AI” – and closed by spelling out just what AI itself needs to do.

Fairness and inclusivity

While AI is an important tool to help keep Facebook safe, it also brings risks in terms of reflecting and amplifying bias, said Joaquin Quinonero Candela from Facebook’s AI team.

Facebook is building best practices for fairness into every step of product development to ensure AI protects users without discriminating against them.

A new process for inclusive AI has been baked into the development of new features to ensure data sets are representative of people across the spectrum of age, gender presentation, and appearance.

Candela spoke about how fairness is a process, then introduced his colleague Margaret Stewart, VP of Product Design, to address the hard ethical questions in design.

Stewart spoke about the human side of Responsible Innovation, and how the design of social media interfaces can impact society in both good and bad ways.

“Design is not neutral,” she stressed, “It has to be managed with utmost care.”

Facebook uses design to reduce the harm that could be caused by misinformation while erring on the side of freedom of expression. However, not always does it work directly. For instance, when they tried working with third-party fact-checking organisations to flag disputed content, it had the opposite effect, drawing more attention to such material.

With research showing people around the world wanted to decide for themselves what information is credible, Facebook has built new tools to help determine reliability. Every article that appears in user’s News Feeds now has a display button providing context (who posted, how long they’ve been on Facebook, related articles by source and topic, statistics on who’s sharing it). Because of how important this issue is, Facebook has taken the rare step of animating the new display button, even though the animation tends to create visual noise. “That’s our values showing up in design,” said Stewart.

Stewart also shared how Facebook’s process to dealing with profiles when someone dies has changed over the years. Taking into account different cultural aspects of different nations, Facebook is still trying to balance security issues and the wishes of friends and family to remember their loved one. That is why a new Tributes tab separate from the original Timeline has been added, so friends and family can gather and share memories.

Respectful and safe AR/VR

Lade Obamehinti of Facebook’s AR/VR software team talked about how the inclusive AI process is being used by Spark AR engineers to ensure the software delivers quality AR effects for everyone. For instance, it is capable of recognising hands of various skin tones under varied lighting.

Facebook is also working to ensure their technology not only doesn’t exclude people, but brings people together. VR will allow users to interact regardless of physical distance, but to be successful it needs people to feel completely present.

“Before we ship this we also need to make sure we answer some key questions around privacy and security,” said Ronald Mallett, Research Manager for the AR/VR team. “One of the questions is making sure an avatar is authentic.”

Facebook is working on truly lifelike avatars, with gestures, facial expressions, and voice tone that uniquely identify a personality.

AR and VR need to be inclusive and safe, so Facebook has built preventive systems. One such example is a code of conduct for those who both use and build headsets that fosters a respectful culture and interactions. Another example is reactive tools for reporting violations have also been built.

Lindsay Young, Oculus VR product manager, summed up the VR team performance:

“We believe VR is the next frontier of human interaction. So it’s an area we need to be incredibly mindful when building. VR is powerful, but it can also be intimidating… As we bring together people in VR, they should have access to tools that make them feel safe.”

Final thoughts

Overall, F8 2019 had a really positive and personal vibe, showcasing plenty of new tools and features coming that will keep people using its platform safely for connection, entertainment, and business. With its commitment to “listening, learning, and adapting” and “building responsibly” as new VR technologies are introduced, the social network looks well set to discover the new futuristic technological horizons.

Bonus videos from other sessions:

• Spark AR for Shopping (using Spark AR for commerce);
• Spark AR Outlook: Inspiring Creation and Exploration (more context about Spark AR);
• Creating Standout AR Effects for Instagram (useful for influencer marketing);
• Creativity Rules — Mobile First Creative (best practices);
• Spotlight on Stories: Creative Considerations for Effective Stories Ads;
• Transforming Customer Care with Messenger;
• Driving Traffic to Your Automated Messenger Experience;
• Measurement Options for Business Messaging;
• Growing Your Business with the Facebook Family of Apps (marketing tools);
• Tapping into Your Community with Groups: Fireside Chat with Adidas (leveraging for business);
• From Visual Recognition to Reasoning (AI for video recognition);
• Keep the Platform Safe (tackling content that violates policy off Facebook).

Aitarget examines key announcements from Day 1 of F8 2019

Aitarget experts joined developers, creators, and entrepreneurs fr om around the world in San Jose on 30 April and 1 May for F8, Facebook’s annual two-day conference.

More than 5,000 people explored the future of technology via dozens of expert presentations, deep-dive sessions, and product demonstrations showcasing the latest tools for businesses in Facebook family.

Despite the large number of attendees, our experts found F8 2019 had a very welcoming and personal atmosphere. Many onstage speakers shared their own photos and stories about using technology with their loved ones, stressing the idea of intimate connection.

F8 2019 overflowed with innovations, emphasised by the interactive, high-tech conference space, wh ere attendees could grab and try Oculus headsets, Smart Cameras, and more.

In this article, our Aitarget team have handpicked some key highlights from the first day which was packed with announcements across the whole Facebook family.

A new era: the future is private

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg opened his F8 2019 keynote address by sharing “a fundamental shift”: the social network would be building a more privacy-focused platform.

“The basic idea here is that in all of our lives we have our public spaces, like our town squares, and we have our private spaces, like our living rooms,” said Zuckerberg. “In our digital lives we also need both public and private spaces.”

The last fifteen years has seen Facebook built as a digital town square, where users could connect widely across geographic boundaries and do things with a lot of people all at once. Now Facebook would also focus on giving people the freedom and space to be themselves.

“It’s easier to feel like you belong when you’re among smaller communities and your closest friends,” said Zuckerberg when talking about the new focus on the digital living room. “As the world gets bigger and more connected, we need that sense of intimacy more than ever.”

Zuckerberg acknowledged Facebook doesn’t have the best reputation regarding privacy, and declared he’s “committed to doing this well, and starting a new chapter for the products”.

During the keynote, Facebook outlined six key principles that it will apply to everything it is looking to do in the coming years.

• Private interactions: the right for everyone to be able to privately interact without anyone “watching”.
• Encryption: integrating end-to-end encryption throughout the Facebook experience.
• Reduced permanence: making sure what users post today will not come back and haunt them in the future (e.g. content and messages that disappear after time, like Stories).
• Safety: the right for everybody to feel safe when using any of the company’s apps.
• Interoperability: the ability to communicate and use any of the Facebook family of apps to reach their friends across Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
• Secure data storage: ensuring that data is secure and cannot be seized by anyone – including governments, and Facebook itself.

A new look for summer

For the first time in five years, Facebook is changing its attire. The new FB5 has a community-focused look some are calling an “aspirational redesign” moving towards what the social network wishes it could be.

FB5 sheds Facebook’s classic blue-and-white branding for a clean white design that’s “simpler, faster, more immersive, and puts your communities at the centre,” announced Fidji Simo, Head of product at Facebook. Updates began rolling out to US app users immediately from the announcement at F8 2019, with a fresh new desktop site for everyone coming later this year.

Source: Facebook press kit

The redesign increases the prominence of both Groups and Marketplace on the freshly tabbed interface. “Everywhere there are friends, there should be Groups,” said Simo. The fast-growing Marketplace will also be adding direct payments and shipping. Sellers can reach more buyers and get paid securely.

With FB5 users will be able to save where they left a News Feed, so they can easily return to what matters most. A dark mode for mobile and desktop will also be available.

Time for a Groups hug

“Groups are at the heart of Facebook’s redesign,” announced Simo. Facebook wants to make it easier for users with shared passions to both connect online and gather together offline.

Groups will become more prominent all across the Facebook experience, from News Feed to wherever users engage with friends, family, and businesses.

• Redesigned Groups tab for easier discoverability. This will allow users to see a personalised feed of activity across all their groups, front and centre; and improved recommendations will let people quickly find groups they may be interested in.
• Easy participation, easy sharing. Facebook is making it easier to get relevant group recommendations throughout its app in places like Marketplace, Today In, the Gaming tab, and Facebook Watch. Users may see more groups content in News Feed, and will be able to share content directly to their groups from News Feed.
• New community-specific features. Recognising that different communities can have different needs, Facebook is introducing new features for various types of groups. New Health Support groups will allow members to anonymously ask questions and share information. Employers have a new template to post vacancies in Job groups, while those looking for roles can message and apply directly through Facebook. Gamers have new chat features, shopping groups – new shipping options, and local communities – new features related to what’s on and local events.

WhatsApp-ening for better business

WhatsApp already led the way among Facebook apps when it comes to privacy, with its encrypted and restricted “share location” option, and its private and impermanent Status sharing experience (which has become even more popular than Instagram Stories).

“Now along with becoming even safer with further privacy upgrades, WhatsApp will be delivering more for business,” announced Ami Vora, VP Product Management at WhatsApp.

“What if we could make sending money as simple as sending a message?” asked Vora. WhatsApp Pay, being tested in India, could be rolled out to other countries in the next few months.

Also in the coming months, WhatsApp users will be able to view product catalogues right within the app when chatting with a business.

Brands will be able to showcase goods within their catalogue. Combined with better payment solutions, the WhatsApp upgrades will allow companies to conduct business online without a website.

Shopping and giving Insta-ly

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced that users will soon be able to shop from creators they love (from public figures and artists to entrepreneurs and publishers) without leaving Instagram. Anyone in the global Instagram community will be able to shop from creators by tapping to see what they’re wearing and buying it on the spot, rather than having to take a screenshot or ask for product details in comments. Testing has begun with a small group of creators, and access will be expanded over time.

Starting from F8 2019, Instagram users in the US can raise money directly on Instagram for nonprofits, using a donation sticker in Stories to mobilise their community. Other users can tap on the sticker to donate. All money raised goes to the nonprofit.

In addition to this, Instagram will improve the camera design and add new features for applying special effects to photos.

Other Day 1 announcements

Along with the points above, the various speakers on Day 1 of F8 2019 made plenty of other revelations. Here’s a brief rundown.

Messenger

• Faster, simpler, safer: rolling out this year, a completely rebuilt MB5 will be 2x faster and 7x smaller than competing apps. End-to-end encryption as default is the goal to ensure data privacy.
• Messenger Desktop: a desktop version for Windows and MacOS allowing group video calls, collaboration, and multi-tasking while chatting. A potential Skype killer?
• Business connections: lead generation templates for Ads Manager, and booking of appointments within Messenger conversations.
• Closer connections: introducing a dedicated space where users can discover Stories and messages with closest friends and family.
• Watch together (testing now for rolling out later this year): discover, seamlessly share, and watch videos together in real time while messaging or on video chat.

Facebook

• Facebook Dating: opt-in to discover potential matches within events, groups, friends of friends, etc. is now expanded from five countries to 19 countries.
• Secret Crush: a new Facebook Dating feature where users can list up to nine friends they’re interested in. Crushes remain secret unless both users list each other as a secret crush.

This announcement created plenty of buzz among F8 2019 attendees.

• Meet New Friends: opt-in to meet new people from shared communities and groups.

Instagram

• Anti-bullying: features are being tested to combat bullying, and users who take comments too far will receive a “nudge”.
• Self care: an “away” feature will give distance during stressful life events, and profiles will put less emphasis on follower numbers.

AR & VR

• Portal expands: coming to Canada and Europe this year, Portal will add WhatsApp, encrypted calls, and the ability to call any friend who uses WhatsApp or Messenger.
• Watch and play: multiplayer AR games, Instant Games, Storytime app, Amazon Prime and Facebook Live are all coming to Portal.
• Spark AR expands: over one billion people have used experiences powered by Spark AR in the past year. The new Spark AR Studio now supports Windows and Mac and includes new features and functionality – “immersive ways to feel connected.”
• Oculus for Business: a suite of tools to help companies reshape the way they do business through VR will be launched later this year. Also, the two newest virtual reality headsets, Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S, ship May 21 (you can preorder them now).