Meta has a new AI model out, this time dedicated to AI image generation and editing. And yes, you can use it on Instagram. But if you have a public account, you need to change your settings now to avoid ending up with the anonymous title of anyone’s AI creation.
The model, called Muse Image, is the first creative model from the new family of Muse Spark Models made by Meta’s superintelligence labs. The company said in a blog post that it is designed to handle complex applications, create composite images and edit existing images. It’s available now on the Meta AI app, Instagram and WhatsApp, with plans to eventually bring it to Facebook, Messenger and advertisers.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed the new model on his Instagram on Tuesday. He showed some of the 30 new AI editing effects the model is working with on Instagram stories, including photos of multiple Zuckerberg clones, 360 camera views with AI lead Alexandr Wang and exposure mode with Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s chief technology officer.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg shows off the AI model’s new editing capabilities in Instagram stories featuring Alexandr Wang (center), Andrew Bosworth (right) and many of his AI clones (left).
This is not the first time an AI company has tried to entice people to use its creative AI by offering to put you and your friends in an AI environment. That was OpenAI’s pitch when it launched its a bad Sora video program in 2024. But OpenAI he is still angry to ordinary people and celebrities for its role in creating deepfakes with ease. Meta’s new AI model poses a similar risk.
Let’s leave aside for a moment the fact that this new model will probably lead to it more AI slop on Instagram. And that the images you upload to the Meta AI app are used to improve Meta services. There are important details in the settings that everyone with a public Instagram account should know. If you’re over 18 and have a public account, anyone with a Meta AI account can “tag” you in their AI image recognition and create hyperrealistic AI images that include your likeness — otherwise known as deepfakes.
How to protect yourself from the deep
I gave the new model a spin to see how easy it could be to create deepfakes. CNET colleague Abrar Al-Heeti has a public Instagram account, and I was able to create an AI portrait of him as a hacker in less than a minute by entering his Instagram username into my domain. When I tried the same myself, to tag my private Instagram account, Meta AI could not complete the request.
Although Meta AI and I did not need to get my colleague Abrar Al-Heeti’s permission to make this AI-generated image of him as a criminal, I did get his permission before including it in this story.
Meta confirmed to CNET that creators with a public Instagram account can block people from creating AI content with their likeness by changing a setting. Go to Instagram Settings > Sharing & Reuse > Toggle off “Allow people to reuse your content on Instagram and AI features on Meta.” You can adjust this control to receive posts and reels. Private accounts by default have no accessible content so anyone can remix or create with it. (After our testing, Al-Heeti disabled this permission.)
You can also limit your risk of getting bogged down when tagging yourself in a photo request for the first time in the Meta AI app. It will take you through some steps to help the app recognize you. That includes taking a photo of your face and, optionally, uploading three photos of yourself. In this process, you can choose who is allowed to use your likeness, including only you, followers you approve, likes or everyone. You can adjust this in the app by going to Settings > Your match.
These controls will be important to professional creators and influencers, whose names and likenesses are their product and therefore their livelihood. Meta says its models have built-in safeguards to prevent the model from creating illegal, abusive or defamatory content. But as we saw with Soramotivated bad actors can bypass the model’s defenses. We will have to wait and see if the Meta will be up to the challenge.