Metas AI Image Tool Uses Public Instagram Photos by Default
“This week, Meta quietly rolled out a new artificial intelligence tool called Muse Image that lets anyone tag a public Instagram account and use that person's photos to generate AI images of them -- without that person's consent, and without notifying them that their pictures are being used. Every public adult account is opted in by default. Meta says private accounts and users under 18 are excluded, and that people can opt out, but the setting is buried, and many users will never know it's there. The company has said video capabilities are coming next. Privacy and safety experts warn that women and girls have the most to lose. The technology behind tools like this is already used overwhelmingly to target women -- from harassment and impersonation to fabricated, non-consensual imagery -- and a feature that lets strangers pull a woman's face from her public photos to generate new images lowers the barrier even further. Digital rights advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation say a tool like this should be opt-in, not something people must discover and disable on their own. The watchdog group Public Citizen called it an "egregious invasion" of privacy. "Meta has once again chosen the creepiest possible path," said J.B. Branch, the group's federal AI policy director. "People should not wake up to discover their face has become raw material for someone else's AI experiment." Until that changes, protecting yourself means finding the setting and turning it off. Here's how to opt out while keeping your account public: 1. Open Instagram on your mobile app and go to your profile 2. Tap the ☰ menu (three lines, top right) 3. Open "Settings and activity" 4. Tap "Sharing and reuse" 5. Find "Allow people to create with and reuse your content" (the exact wording may vary slightly by app version) 6. Turn off the toggles for "Posts" and "Reels" 7. While you're there, also turn off "Allow people to create with and reuse your original audio on Meta AI" so your voice and original sounds are protected too A few important things to know: - The setting is still rolling out, starting in the US, so if you don't see it yet, check back in a few days. - For the fullest protection Meta currently offers, switch your account to private, which blocks the tool entirely. - Turning it off only prevents future AI generation -- it does not remove anything already created, and Meta will not notify you when someone uses your content.”
Summary
Meta introduced Muse Image this week, letting users create AI‑generated images by @‑mentioning public Instagram accounts, with all public adult accounts automatically opted in and the opt‑out buried in Settings & Activity. Following intense backlash, Meta withdrew the Instagram‑based image‑generation feature, though it remains available in the Meta AI app and WhatsApp. Reports do not confirm that video‑generation capabilities are imminent.
Sources 33 searched
- Meta ditches Muse Image AI feature because it ‘misses the mark’ on users’ privacy | Meta | The Guardian
The Meta AI feature launched this week allowed people to create images from public Instagram accounts.
- Instagram’s AI image generator alarms privacy experts | Instagram | The Guardian
A blogpost from the privacy-focused company Proton says that “data sharing is turned on by default, the opt-out is buried deep in settings, and public backlash becomes the main way users find out what happened to their content”. They urge ...
- Meta Removes A.I. Feature on Instagram After Days of Backlash - The New York Times
Muse Image is still available on WhatsApp and the Meta AI app, the company’s stand-alone chatbot product. On Instagram, other A.I. features the company announced this week, like special filters created by Muse Image, are still available.
- How to Prevent Meta From Using Your Instagram Images in A.I. - The New York Times
Any adult with a public Instagram account was automatically opted in. Using the Meta AI app, the company’s stand-alone chatbot, other users could pull from “part or all of your published photos” to create new A.I.
- Outcry as Meta lets users make AI images from public Instagram profile pics
Meta is facing a backlash over its new AI tool Muse Image, which can generate pictures using other people's profile pictures without telling them.
- Introducing Muse Image: Image Generation Built for Your World
We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available. Today, Meta is rolling out Muse Image, the company’s first image generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, now available in Meta AI.
- Meta Muse Image Uses Public Instagram Photos by Default: How to Turn It Off
In Instagram, go to Settings > Sharing and Reuse, then switch off “Allow people to reuse your content on Instagram and with AI features at Meta” for posts and reels. This option appears only for public accounts.
- Meta reverses new AI tool that uses public Instagram pics after backlash - WISN
"Earlier this week, we announced that one way for people to generate images in Meta AI is by @-mentioning public Instagram accounts that they want to reference," Meta said in a statement. "Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way. We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available." Below is an earlier version of our story that explained how to disable the feature. Meta has launched a new AI image tool called Muse Image that lets users create AI-generated images inspired by public Instagram profiles.
- Meta discontinues Instagram feature on new AI image generation tool after Hollywood backlash - Los Angeles Times
By Friday, Meta said a feature on Muse Image that helps pull photos from public Instagram accounts was no longer available. “Earlier this week, we announced that one way for people to generate images in Meta AI is by @-mentioning public Instagram ...
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