On Tuesday, Meta launched “Muse Image,” a new AI image generation feature that allows users to create original images, edit existing photos, and generate custom ads directly within the app.
But one feature has quickly become the center of controversy.
Muse Image allows users to generate AI images using photos from their public Instagram accounts. As long as a person’s profile is public, other users can tag their account and use the image as part of their AI-generated work. (Only private accounts and accounts belonging to users under 18 are automatically excluded from the feature.)
One of the big concerns is consent. Users may not know that their public photos can be incorporated into AI-generated images by strangers, and they will not be notified if someone reuses their public content. Additionally, the ease with which people’s images can be manipulated opens the door to abuse, harassment, impersonation, and non-consensual image editing.
If you would like to opt out of this, you can do so by:
Go to your profile and click on the three horizontal lines in the top right corner. Scroll down to Share and Reuse. Look for the option that says “Use Meta’s AI features to help people use your content on Instagram” and toggle off both the Post and Reels settings.
Muse Image comes at a time when AI tools are increasingly integrated into social media platforms. As technology companies race to deploy new generative AI capabilities, many experts say stronger privacy protections and increased transparency are needed so users can fully understand how their photos and personal data are being used.
Public skepticism about AI is already on the rise. According to a Pew Research Center survey, 35% of respondents said they were more concerned than excited about the growing use of artificial intelligence.
Additionally, Meta’s track record with user privacy also adds to skepticism about modern AI capabilities.
In 2019, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) imposed a $5 billion fine on Facebook, concluding that it violated a 2012 consent order by misleading users about how much control it had over their personal information. This followed a high-profile scandal in which political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica accessed the data of up to 87 million Facebook users through a personality quiz app. Facebook’s platform policies at the time allowed developers to collect information about users’ friends without their knowledge or explicit consent.
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