Meta is facing a new wave of criticism for its new AI image generator – which encourages users generating AI images using other people’s public images.
On Tuesday, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, was introduced an AI tool called Muse Image, created by its AI division, Superintelligence Labs.
The Muse image is available through Meta’s AI app, as well as WhatsApp and Instagram Stories. According to Meta, Muse Image “uses advanced logic to understand complex commands, easily combining multiple images into high-quality creations that you can download and share anywhere.”
So far, it’s pretty standard – but the AI image generator also allows users @ to specify a specific Instagram account within the Meta AI app to add that Instagram account to the Muse Image creator.
In other words, Muse Image can add an Instagram user to its AI creation without the Instagram user’s knowledge.
“Tagging a user’s name allows Meta AI to use public images to create a post-ready visual,” Meta said. Any public Instagram profile can be used by Muse Image, unless that user opts out.
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Not surprisingly, privacy experts and watchdog groups criticized Meta for this feature. The non-profit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen called the feature “an outrageous attack on users’ privacy.”
“Meta has once again chosen a very dangerous path,” said JB Branch, Public Citizen’s director of AI policy and technology, in a statement. “People shouldn’t wake up to find that their faces have become someone else’s AI test material.
“This is another invasion of consumer privacy. Instead of asking for meaningful consent, Meta is quietly switching users from the system and hiding the opt-out option in account settings. It’s the playbook we’ve come to expect from a company with a long history of putting its business interests before the public.”
How to get out of Meta’s Muse Image
Talking about it to get outthere are two ways to make sure your Instagram photos are public and likeable aren’t using the @ mention Muse Image feature.
If your Instagram profile is set to private, Instagram respects that privacy setting as Photo Muse needs access to the public photos of the Instagram account for the tool to generate AI photos. Photo Muse will notify the user that they cannot use your Instagram account if they try to @ mention your account to create a photo.
If you have a public Instagram profile, however, you need to log out of your account settings.
Open the Instagram app on your phone. Go to your profile. From there, tap the menu button in the top right corner and tap Share and Recycle. On that page, scroll down to “Allow people to repurpose your Instagram content and AI features in Meta”.
There are two settings, Posts and Reels, each with its own modifier. Turn them off if you don’t want Meta’s AI tools to use your Posts, including images, or your Reels, to generate Muse Image content.