Meta has rolled out a new artificial intelligence feature, called Muse Image, that lets people generate AI images based on public Instagram accounts.
According to ZDNet, any public Instagram account is fair game for the tool, meaning strangers can feed your posts into Meta's system to create new images. The Washington Post similarly reports that Meta now lets anyone use your public Instagram photos to create AI images.
The feature is part of a broader push by Meta into generative AI. On Hacker News and Meta's own blog, the company has been promoting related products, including its Muse Spark model and a new Meta model API, with coverage from Bloomberg noting the wider rollout.
The launch has drawn sharp criticism. According to Axios reporter Ina Fried, privacy advocates, the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and the actors' union SAG-AFTRA have all slammed Muse Image specifically because it lets users create AI images using the likenesses of real people who have public Instagram accounts. That raises concerns about consent, identity, and how someone's face and image can be reused without permission.
Because public accounts are included by default, the responsibility to opt out falls on users. Multiple outlets, including ZDNet and local station WZTV, have published guides explaining how to opt out of having your public Instagram photos used by the feature.
Why it matters: The tool tests where the line sits between publicly posted photos and personal control over your own likeness — and puts the burden on ordinary users, not the platform, to keep their images out of AI systems.