You May See an AI Version of Yourself as an Instagram Post: Here’s How to Turn It Off

Some people are seeing AI-generated images of themselves as private posts on the platform.

If you’ve sampled Meta’s AI tools, you may see a familiar face and body pop up on Instagram posts: an AI version of yourself. Meta, Instagram’s parent company, is experimenting with displaying AI-generated avatars in a series of photos shown in Instagram slideshows that only the user can see on their own feed. 

In a post on Reddit, a user going by Green_Video_9831, shared what he called a “personalized ad” of his AI-generated face and body in a hall of mirrors. He titled the post, “Used Meta AI to edit a selfie, now instagram is using my face on ads targeted at me.”

Green_Video_9831 said in a subsequent post that he had a similar image taken at a museum of himself in his Instagram history and assumed Meta used that information to make something familiar.

Read more: Custom AI Posts in Our Instagram Feeds? No Thanks, Meta

The post from Meta AI’s account says the image is, “Imagined for you” and contains the text, “Imagine yourself reflecting on life in an endless maze of mirrors where you’re the main focus.” 

A preview of this was mentioned in September in a Meta post about its new AI products, when the company said 400 million people were already using Meta AI. 

The Meta post said, “And we’re testing new Meta AI-generated content in your Facebook and Instagram feeds, so you may see images from Meta AI created just for you (based on your interests or current trends).”

A representative for Meta told CNET, “We test lots of new AI features publicly in limited capacities to see what people find interesting and useful to their experiences across our apps.” 

As to the appearance of AI images on feeds, the spokesperson said, “These images can only be generated for users who have onboarded to Meta’s Imagine yourself feature, which includes adding photos to that feature, and (who) have accepted the feature’s terms.”

Read more: What Is Meta AI? What You Need to Know About the Social Network’s AI Tools

To opt out, the spokesperson said, you can tap the three dots on the top-right corner of a post and then select “Hide” to stop seeing similar posts. Select “Stop seeing this content” to turn off suggested AI images.

Meta has been rolling out its Meta AI tools across all its major platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Messenger. The tools can generate chatbots, help enhance photos and videos, and assist with tasks such as managing schedules or searching for posts. It includes celebrity voices such as John Cena and Kristen Bell for its voice-powered assistant. 

Meta, like other major tech companies such as OpenAI, Google, Apple and Microsoft, is in a race to attract users to its AI offerings with the goal of becoming the most widely used AI assistant in the world. 

But the changes haven’t gone without controversy. The company has touted the ability to generate AI avatars of influencers. But Meta also backtracked on its plan to introduce AI-generated profiles of characters after it had begun posting on Instagram and Facebook.