Meta rolled out a feature that generated artificial intelligence (AI) images based on publicly available photos by tagging someone else's Instagram account, then withdrew it three days later.
According to a Meta notice on the 11th (local time), Meta's AI image generation and editing model Muse Image removed this feature the day before. It was three days after Meta introduced Muse Image on the 7th.
Instagram users felt uneasy about others using their photos with AI even if they were set to "public." In particular, they pushed back hard against not receiving any notification when someone else used their photos. As users began sharing ways to prevent AI from using their photos, Meta appears to have decided to remove the feature.
Meta said it aimed "to provide useful creative tools and enable users to directly control whether their public content is used," adding that it "made the feature unavailable after gathering feedback that it fell short of expectations."
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which had urged members to block AI use of Instagram images, said, "When the risks of digitally generated replicas without consent are well known to everyone, a feature that encourages them is unwise," adding, "We appreciate the suspension of this feature."