Instagram announced on Monday that it will start restricting the reach of accounts that feature AI-generated individuals without explicitly labeling them, and it will also change how it identifies AI-generated profiles.
Instagram claims that by changing its current “AI creator” label to “AI-generated profile,” the platform will make the information clearer. The purpose of the new label is to inform people that an AI-generated or significantly AI-created individual is presented on a profile.
The new policy may limit the reach of creators who fail to appropriately label an AI-generated profile. On the other hand, creators who utilize the new label won’t face consequences just for using an AI-generated human as their profile topic.
Additionally, the term isn’t appropriate for all applications of AI. Instagram claims that the AI-generated profile name is not required for users who use AI to edit photographs, polish captions, create graphics, or make other artistic adjustments.
Instagram claims that users who have come across accounts that appeared to belong to actual persons only to discover later that the person was entirely AI-generated are partially responsible for the move.
Instagram stated, “We’ve heard that people don’t like seeing a profile that seems human, only to find out later that the person featured is AI-generated, as generative AI becomes a bigger part of how people create.” “When an AI-generated person appears in a profile, they want to know.”
The timing is noteworthy. As AI influencers proliferate on social media platforms, dissatisfaction with AI-generated material has been increasing.
For example, early this year, a network of seemingly AI-generated male influencers marketed the gay dating app Goose on Instagram, prompting a Wired investigation. More than two dozen accounts that seemed to have AI influencers were discovered by Wired; some of these accounts allegedly sent direct messages to prospective users encouraging them to sign up.
Another very concerning example is content related to health and wellbeing. In July, the New York Times revealed that hundreds of AI-generated physicians, healers, and wellness celebrities were advertising supplements or making health claims to people on social media.
Instagram made the statement in response to criticism of an AI tool that let users create pictures with other people’s likenesses. When their public Instagram content was used without their express consent, users objected. The feature was then eliminated by Meta.
Meta and U.S. states struck a $18 billion settlement last week on claims about Facebook and Instagram’s impact on kids and teenagers. As part of the deal, Meta will implement a “Night Mode” ban, muted alerts during school hours, a default two-hour daily usage limit for teens on Facebook and Instagram, and other limitations.