Meta Removes Concerning Instagram AI Feature After Severe Backlash

Meta dismantled its latest artificial intelligence image-generation feature last Friday, only three days after releasing it.

Muse Image, a feature that allowed users to create images using public Instagram photos from adult accounts without consent, sustained overwhelming backlash immediately after it went public. Many users were automatically opted in and were unaware that their public accounts were subject to the new feature, and they scrambled to figure out how to turn it off. 

Meta released a statement, saying it received feedback that “this feature missed the mark,” and removed it, according to The Guardian.

“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,” Meta said.

Meta unveiled Muse Image on Tuesday, describing it as the “first image generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs.” The feature allowed users to generate customized images by tagging an Instagram username, allowing Meta AI to draw from that account’s public photos.

The feature was available through the Meta AI app, web browser, WhatsApp, and Instagram Stories for users in the United States.

“Whether you want to design a custom event invitation, mock up a collaborative creative concept, or generate a personalized graphic, tagging a username lets Meta AI use public photos to build a visual that’s ready to post,” Meta said.

Adult users with public Instagram accounts were automatically opted in, allowing Meta AI to use their public photos to generate new images unless they opted out.

In an interview with the BBC, Donald Campbell, advocacy director at tech justice non-profit Foxglove, said Meta’s move was an “obvious recipe for disaster,” pointing out that there have already been “a catalogue of harms from non-consensual AI-altered images on social platforms just in the past year.”

“It is hard to see why Mark Zuckerberg thinks facilitating yet more of this creepy image manipulation is a good idea,” Campbell said.

Many users complained they had not been asked for permission before being enrolled and said the opt-out option was difficult to find.

“Went to opt out but there was only one toggle for reels for me (which I already had switched off) and not one for posts, hopefully they’re just rolling it out gradually and it’ll be there when I check back later,” one Instagram user wrote.

Another user said, “Would be fab if our [government] were keeping an eye on stuff like this.”