Facebook turns to artificial intelligence to stop greeting the dead users

In addition to envying the Caribbean holidays of your friends, Facebook It is very useful to remember birthdays. But sometimes send reminders to greet a deceased contact and to whom, of course, we can not congratulate.

Social networks are aware of this absurdity and ensure that they take action in this area. For that will implement algorithms to determine if a user is dead and then stop sending automatic messages to the date of birth indicated in the profiles.

Artificial intelligence to the rescue

Facebook's operations director, Sheryl Sandberg, said she would use a AI system to find out if a user has died, which will be based on different factors to determine. This automated mechanism will prevent the social network sending messages on the anniversary of the birth of these people, when their deaths have not been reported.

"We know that the loss of a friend or family member can be devastating, and we want Facebook to be a place where people can support themselves and the memory of their loved ones." said Sandberg in a statement.

As the site notes NPR, the executive did not give details on the operation of this system. But, as often happens in these cases, one of the variables observed is the lack of activity in the accounts.

The social network that debuted in 2004 has more than 2 billion users. According to (unofficial) estimates dating from 2016, More than 30 million Facebook profiles correspond to people who have died.

At present, the social network allows users to report the death of a loved one and ask for evidence. In these cases, it is sometimes possible to create what is called "Commemorative profiles"They serve so that this person's relatives also remember in the digital domain.

In addition to the automatic system to determine if a user has died, the California company said the people responsible for managing these commemorative profiles would have better control. For example, determine who can see the contents of this section. "It could help family members or friends who are not yet ready to see (this content)," they explain.

"These changes are the result of comments with users of different religions and cultures, in addition to experts and academics. We are grateful to them for helping us understand how to develop more tools to help people find comfort in difficult times, "they added.