Instagram Head Warns About Highly Realistic AI-Generated Images

Instagram head Adam Mosseri cautioned users against trusting online images, noting that AI is “clearly producing” content that can be easily mistaken for reality.

In a series of Threads posts on Sunday, Mosseri says it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between real photos and AI-generated images on social media.

“Whether or not you’re a bull or a bear in the technology, generative AI is clearly producing content that is difficult to discern from recordings of reality, and improving rapidly,” Mosseri writes in the Threads posts, that were first spotted by The Verge.

Mosseri urged social media platforms to label AI-generated content as accurately as possible and provide more context on posts to help users.

However, he acknowledged that it’s impossible to catch everything, as some AI-generated content might go unnoticed by social media platforms. Equally, not all misleading content is created by AI.

So Mosseri suggested that social media platforms share details about the people or accounts sharing content. This additional context helps users judge the trustworthiness of the source and make informed decisions about the credibility of the content they encounter.

“Our role as internet platforms is to label content generated as AI as best we can,” Mosseri says

“But some content will inevitably slip through the cracks, and not all misrepresentations will be generated with AI, so we must also provide context about who is sharing so you can assess for yourself how much you want to trust their content.”

Mosseri also advised social media users to be discerning when viewing photos and videos online and consider the source of images.

“It’s going to be increasingly critical that the viewer, or reader, brings a discerning mind when they consume content purporting to be an account or a recording of reality,” Mosseri adds. “My advice is to always consider who it is that is speaking.”

Earlier this year, Instagram launched a “Made with AI” label for photos. However, the labels created confusion as photographers and content creators discovered their real images had been slapped with the tags despite using minimal editing or apparently not using AI at all.

Image credits: Header by Anthony Quintano, CC by 2.0