Meta has announced a new tool that lets you take photos published on Instagram and use them to generate artificial intelligence content.
The new product, Muse Image, went live on Tuesday and will allow other users to take “some or all of your published photos” and create new AI images, the company said in a blog post.
Users can tag a public Instagram account in the Meta AI app and instruct the chatbot to create a new AI photo based on a photo from that person’s account.
The tool immediately sparked backlash and criticism from privacy advocates.
Taylor Lorenz, a journalist and author specializing in the technology field, said this is concerning because it allows users to create photos and videos using someone else’s likeness without their consent or notification.
“The fact that someone you don’t know can take your photo or image and manipulate the AI-generated image of you is really terrible,” said JB Branch, director of AI policy at Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group.
Another concern is that adults with public Instagram accounts will be automatically opted in.
Users can set their accounts to private to protect their content, or opt out by changing their account settings if they want to remain public. Here’s how to opt out:
- Go to your profile from the Instagram app
- Tap the three-line icon in the top right for more options
- Scroll down to Share & Reuse and tap
- Go to “Allow users to create and reuse original audio in Meta AI” and toggle it to “Off”.
