How to prevent Meta from using your Instagram photos to generate images with its new AI

Once again, we are here to cover your back, dear marketer. With the recent launch of Muse Image, users can create AI-generated images on Instagram and WhatsApp. However, one of its most notable features is that it allows users to create AI images based on Instagram photos from public accounts, and we have all been automatically opted into this feature (except for teen accounts).

Here is how it works: in the Meta AI app, a user can tag a public Instagram account and instruct the chatbot to create new AI photos based on images from that person’s account, whether static posts or stories. Let us see how to avoid it.

How to disable the feature

The easiest option is to set your account to private, but if you want to keep it public, here is what you need to do so that Meta does not allow any user to use your images to create AI content:

1. Go to your Instagram account’s settings.
2. Scroll down to the “Sharing and reuse” section.
3. Then, in the sections “Allow people to reuse your content on Instagram and with AI features”, disable the option.

You can also change the AI settings for individual photos and videos. But beware, there is one thing we will not be able to avoid: our audio, text, and comments can be “reused” by Meta AI.

You may not see this option available yet, since Muse Image is only available in some regions. We know Europe is usually the last to get these types of updates, but it will arrive, so it is better to be prepared.

Unsurprisingly, this has not gone over well with users, who are already tired of AI being everywhere. And especially of the AI slop that has been flooding the platform lately. They have made that clear to Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri himself, in one of his latest posts introducing the new image generation model.

“Literally no one wants this,” “What we need is an option to stop seeing AI-generated content,” “So exciting to see EVEN MORE AI slop on this platform!” were some of the comments.