On Tuesday, Meta announced its new AI Muse Image generator for Instagram, Meta AI and WhatsApp, promising "advanced reasoning to understand complex prompts, seamlessly blending multiple photos into high-quality creations." In Instagram, the feature lets you add 30 new effects for Stories, with one that makes your photo look like it was taken with a disposable camera, for example. It also includes interface in Instagram's image editor to let you preview the effects before applying them.

Sounds useful, but as part of the update, all public Instagram profiles are automatically opted in to be used in Muse Image's AI remixes. Anyone can tag your account's profile in a prompt, then use Meta AI to generate an image based on your likeness. "Tagging a username lets Meta AI use public photos to build a visual that's ready to post," as Meta cheerfully explains in its blog. Suffice to say, it's a feature that's ripe for abuse.

Steve Dent

Luckily, there are settings available to block people from remixing your images while keeping your account public. To access them, open the Instagram app, tap your profile and then tap the hamburger (three line) menu at the top right of your screen. Then, scroll down to the Sharing and reuse setting. You'll see a category called Allow people to create with and reuse your content. Tap to toggle that setting off for both posts and reels.

The new feature has provoked user rage on Reddit and elsewhere, particularly the part where all public accounts are automatically opted in. Another big problem is that if someone does reuse your content, you won't even be notified about it, according to Instagram's help center. And if someone has already used Meta AI to remix your images, they won't be deleted after you disable the setting. I noticed that this option was turned on by default for me in France, and given privacy laws here and across the EU, I expect we haven't heard the last of this.