Here’s how to opt out of Meta’s new AI image generator, Muse, reusing your content
Hint: you may want to go private.
Image by Cybernews
If you have a public profile on Instagram, anyone can prompt Meta’s new AI image generator, Muse, to reuse and edit your photos and videos.
- Meta’s Muse can let people edit photos and videos from public Instagram profiles using AI.
- Instagram users can prevent reuse by making profiles private or changing settings.
- The feature has sparked privacy concerns as public debate grows over AI tools using people’s likenesses.
Muse Image, developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs and unveiled on July 7th, is marketed as “the creative partner that knows your world.”
The free tool is now available on Instagram and WhatsApp and is coming soon to Facebook and Messenger.
Muse can be used to create high-quality visuals by describing what users need in simple, conversational language. The visuals can then be downloaded and shared anywhere, including directly to the user’s feed, story, or chat.
While Muse works similarly to other AI image generators, its functionality, called the “presets panel,” drew backlash after The Verge first noted that it allows direct editing of photos from other Instagram users’ public profiles by typing their handles.
Prevent your photos from being reused by Muse
Instagram’s policy states that if you have a public profile, “people may be able to create content with your Instagram content using AI features at Meta.” In addition, the reused content may be discoverable in search engine results.
This can be prevented by setting the profile to private.
Users can do that by tapping their profile, then clicking on the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner, and selecting “Settings and activity.” Once there, they can click on the “Account privacy” and set the account to private.
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If the switch is left on for more than 24 hours, all reels, posts, or stories containing the user’s content will be deleted from Instagram. However, content created by others using AI features at Meta will not be deleted.
Instagram's policy states that users can turn off the reuse of individual reels, videos, and photos from each post. In this case, however, content created before the settings change will remain on Instagram unless the user deletes it.
Users who want to opt out can follow the same instructions as making the profile private. Instead of selecting “Account privacy,” they should click “Sharing and reuse” to manage permissions.
Some Redditors reported issues when trying to disable the reuse of their content.
“I didn’t have a ‘Sharing and reuse’ tab and couldn’t figure out why for a sec,” a Reddit user wrote, prompting suggestions to update the app.
Muse Image comes amid growing concerns about AI exploiting people’s likenesses. Australian actor Cate Blanchett recently launched a free tool to help people prevent their identities from being used by AI without their consent.