Instagram chief Adam Mosseri has warned that the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence-generated images and videos could fundamentally change how people perceive content on the platform, pushing authenticity to the center of its future strategy.
In a retrospective post shared at the end of December, meta executive He suggested that AI is advancing so quickly that it could soon become very difficult to distinguish between real photos and videos and synthetic ones, and Instagram needs to adapt at that pace.
AI content is seen as increasing risk
AI-powered image and video generation dominated online trends in 2025, driven by tools like Google's Nano Banana and OpenAI's Sora app. Instagram is also tapping into this change with its Edits app, which aims to support AI-driven content creation. despite this, Mosseri believes this technology poses serious long-term challenges.
“The main risk facing Instagram is that as the world changes at an accelerating pace, the platform will not be able to keep up,” Mosseri wrote in a 20-slide carousel post on Dec. 31. “The big change heading into 2026 is that the real thing will be infinitely reproducible,” he said.
Mosseri said AI-generated media could be the most transformative change we've ever witnessed, going beyond previous technological changes that have changed how users interact with apps.
From trust to skepticism
Mosseri acknowledged that the basic assumptions people once had about digital media are crumbling. “For most of my life, it was safe to assume that photos and videos captured an almost exact moment as it happened. This is clearly no longer the case. It will take years to adapt,” he says. “We're going to start being skeptical by assuming by default that what we're seeing is real.”
Instagram may be specific, but AI-generated content In the short term, he warned, detection will become more difficult as technology improves. Over time, he expects we'll see a shift toward cryptographic signatures at the point of capture, allowing us to verify the actual image or video rather than trying to discern a composite after the fact.
Decline of refined feed?
Mosseri also challenged the long-held perception that Instagram is a place to preserve carefully curated personal moments. He said these sophisticated posts have largely moved from public feeds to private messages.
He noted that most personal sharing now happens through direct messages, which often feature blurry photos, shaky videos, and unflattering candid shots. Mosseri described this trend as “raw aesthetics” and argued that highly sophisticated images have lost their appeal.
“Flattery images have no value anymore,” he said, noting they are “cheap to make and boring to consume.” As a result, the focus shifts from technical perfection to individuality, moving beyond the criteria of “can you create?” “Can you make something that only you can make?”
How does Instagram plan to respond?
Looking ahead, Mosseri said Instagram will need to evolve rapidly to remain relevant in an AI-saturated environment. He outlined several priorities for the platform, including better tools to accommodate AI content, clearer labeling, and stronger trust signals.
“We need to build the best reactive tools. Label AI-generated content and verify authentic content. Surface trustworthiness signals about posters. Continuously improve originality rankings,” he said.
Important points
- AI-generated content is changing the perception of trustworthiness on social media.
- Instagram needs to develop tools to label and verify content to maintain user trust.
- The shift towards 'canonical aesthetics' signals a shift in user preferences away from sophisticated images.
