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If you have a public Instagram account, your photos could now be used in a way you never expected.
As part of the rollout of its new Muse Image artificial intelligence model, Meta has introduced a feature (1) that lets people generate AI images using another person’s public Instagram photos. All someone has to do is tag your public Instagram username in a prompt, and Meta AI can create a new image based on your likeness.
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Meta says the feature is designed to help people create personalized invitations, mockups and other creative images by incorporating public Instagram content into AI-generated visuals. Unless you change your settings or make your account private, public profiles are automatically eligible for the feature by default.
The rollout marks another example of tech companies embedding generative AI into products millions of people already use, often with participation turned on automatically unless users actively opt out.
How to stop Meta AI from using your Instagram posts
On Instagram’s website (2), the help page regarding this feature automatically starts a chat with their AI if you click on any of the FAQ tabs. If you’d rather avoid that, and don’t want other people generating AI images using your public Instagram posts or Reels, you’ll need to change your account settings manually.
According to Meta (2), you start by opening Instagram and:
- Tap your profile.
- Tap the three-line menu in the upper-right corner.
- Scroll to Sharing and reuse.
- Find Allow people to use your content on Instagram and with AI features on Meta.
- Turn off the toggles for Posts and Reels.
You can also make your Instagram account private (3), which prevents the feature from using your content altogether.
There are some important limitations. Turning the setting off only prevents future AI generations. Images that have already been created using your content won’t be deleted, according to Wired (1). Users also won’t receive notifications if someone creates AI-generated content using their public photos.
“We built Muse Image with strong controls and safety guardrails from day one. Private accounts and those belonging to users under 18 are automatically excluded and adult users with public accounts can opt out with just a couple of clicks,” Meta spokesperson Dana Still wrote in an email to Moneywise. “We will take action against any content that violates our Community Standards.”
Read More: 7 top habits of 'quietly wealthy' Americans. How many do you follow?
AI features are the default. Why do you always have to opt out?
Meta isn’t the only tech giant making AI participation the default (4) rather than asking users for permission first.
- Last year, LinkedIn automatically enrolled users in a setting that allowed their data to be used to improve generative AI models before adding an option to disable it.
- X also began using public posts to help train its Grok AI model, though users were later given a way to opt out through their privacy settings.
- Microsoft delayed the rollout of its Recall feature after privacy concerns, redesigning the tool to require stronger security protections before it became widely available.
- Adobe also faced criticism after customers questioned whether updated terms of service would allow the company to use creative work for AI, prompting Adobe to clarify that it does not train Firefly on customers’ local files.
The broader debate goes beyond settings menus.
Meta (5) is facing lawsuits from authors, publishers and other copyright holders who allege the company used copyrighted works without permission to train AI models. Meta has denied wrongdoing.
OpenAI has been sued by The New York Times, the Authors Guild and other copyright holders, who allege the company trained ChatGPT using copyrighted works without permission (6). OpenAI disputes those allegations and has argued its use of copyrighted material qualifies as fair use.
Many smartphone users have limited awareness of default privacy settings and often struggle to locate or adjust them. Research suggests (7) that making AI features opt-out rather than opt-in shifts the burden onto consumers to discover and disable settings they may not be aware of.
Meta says its new Instagram feature is intended to make AI image creation more personal and creative. But for users who prefer not to have their public photos transformed into AI-generated images by others, checking privacy settings may now be just as important as deciding what to post in the first place.
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Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
Wired (1); Instagram Help (2), (3); The Guardian (4); Reuters (5), (6); ArXiv (7)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
