AI art is mired controversy, so it should be no surprise that Meta's confirmation that it trains its AI image generator using publicThe revelation could be the straw that broke the camel's back for many users of the social media platform. Already frustrated by the decrease in reach that their posts receive these days on a platform increasingly saturated with paid ads, many users, and particularly artists, are wondering if there's any point to Instagram anymore.
Creators are angry, saying that they were unaware of the use and that Meta did not secure consent. Many artists have since been publishing posts and stories on Instagram to declare ownership of the copyright of their work and to say that they do not consent to its use to train AI. Such posts are likely to have little impact if the small print in Instagram's terms and conditions allow Meta to do what it's doing.
To try to opt out from Meta's use of Instagram data to train AI, you can go to Settings > Help > Help Center > About AI on Instagram > Learn about How Meta uses information for generative AI models and features. There among reams of text, one confusing paragraph reads: “To help bring these experiences to you, we’ll now rely on the legal basis called legitimate interests for using your information to develop and improve Al at Meta.