Meta's Instagram AI Tool Lets Users Generate Images From Public Photos

Meta launched a generative AI feature called Muse Image inside Instagram that lets users create new images by referencing photos from public accounts. The tool works when another user tags a public username in a prompt. Private accounts and profiles belonging to users under 18 are automatically excluded from the feature.

Users receive no notification when their photos are reused and must change a setting to stop the practice.

As long as a profile remains public, its images can be pulled into AI creations without the account holder's knowledge. To disable the feature, users open their profile, tap the three horizontal lines, scroll to Sharing and reuse, and turn off the toggle labeled Allow people to use your content on Instagram with AI features on Meta. The setting applies to both posts and reels.

Some users have already begun opting out of the default setting. SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood representatives have publicly raised concerns about the development. Meta has not released figures on how many accounts have disabled the option.

A Pew Research Center survey found that 35 percent of respondents are more concerned than excited about the growing use of artificial intelligence. In 2019 the U.S. Federal Trade Commission fined Facebook $5 billion for violating a 2012 consent order on user data control after the Cambridge Analytica incident exposed data from up to 87 million users.