• by Colin Kirkland , 5 hours ago

In an effort to better clarify how content is made and devise a space for a new kind of creator pool, Instagram is building upon its in-feed "AI info" tag with a new AI label that creators who post content primarily generated by AI can add directly to their accounts.

According to an Instagram post, creators who choose to identify as an “AI creator” will see an identical label applied to their account bio and alongside their content in Feed, Reels, and Explore.

"When content is labeled as 'AI info' and posted by an AI creator, the AI info label would appear on the content instead of the 'AI creator' label," the company's post explains, adding that identifying as an AI creator will not impact how Instagram's recommendations algorithm will distribute their content across the platform.

As AI-generated content continues to expand and become more advanced, it has become critically important that users understand whether what they are engaging with is real or artificially created.

This is why Meta launched its original AI info tag across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads in 2024 -- especially after its Oversight Board expressed concerns over risking users' freedom of expression through the use of AI-editing tools.

Since then, Meta has committed to spending hundreds of billions of dollars in the development of various AI projects, including AI-powered content creation tools.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri stated earlier this year that these tools would soon be able to replicate any real-life content.

However, as Meta spends money on AI development, the tech giant is also taking steps to encourage "original" content on Instagram, recently altering its recommendations algorithm to discourage aggregators from reposting others' content.

With the testing of “AI creator” tags, Meta is likely attempting to encourage the flow of original content through its social platforms without excluding creators dabbling in AI-generated content. Depending on how it was created, this content could technically follow the company's newly enforced originality guidelines.