Meta removes controversial AI feature on Instagram after backlash

Meta has pulled the plug on a controversial feature that allowed users to edit photos from public Instagram accounts using artificial intelligence. The feature, which was rolled out earlier this week alongside a host of other AI tools, “failed to hit the mark” and is no longer available, according to the company.

Earlier this week, Meta announced Muse Image, a new AI image generator created by its dedicated AI unit known as Meta Superintelligence Labs. Meta promoted one feature that allowed individuals to create images by pointing to public Instagram accounts they wanted to reference. The feature, which was not designed to alert a user if their photos were being used in this way, sparked immediate backlash.

TechCrunch has written its own guide explaining to users how to disable the feature.

Now, Meta has reversed course. The company issued a blog post on Friday announcing that it would remove this feature. Puck News co-founder Dylan Byers was the first to share the company’s decision.

“Our goal was to provide a useful creative tool and give people control over whether they can reference their public content in this way,” the company posted on its blog. We’ve heard feedback that this feature didn’t deliver, so it’s no longer available.

TechCrunch has reached out to Meta for more information and will update this article if it responds.

Since its integration with social media platforms, AI has been wildly abused – often to create nude images of female celebrities. Platforms have tried to mitigate this trend, although the guardrails provided have often been insufficient.

In the case of the recently canceled Meta feature, it seems fairly clear that it would have been abused in this way. In fact, Byers points out that the decision to ditch the feature came “amid scrutiny from users and talent agencies, including CAA.”