Meta is experimenting with more AI-generated images and content for Facebook and Instagram users.
The company will now show some users images of themselves generated by Meta AI on their Facebook and Instagram feedsas announced at its annual developer conference, Meta Connect, last week.
The push toward incorporating AI content into users’ feeds will be an interesting test of people’s willingness to see their image in posts they haven’t proactively created. It’s also a first glimpse of how Meta imagines its social media feeds will evolve in the future, as AI becomes more prevalent in everyday life.
The expansion is based on the function “Imagine”which came out in beta in July and allows users to create AI-generated selfies in direct messages with Meta AI or in their feeds, stories, and profile photos.
Meta
New AI content added to feeds could be “based on your current interests or trends”according to the company has announced. They could also show AI-generated images of the user themselves.
“Images with your face can only be generated for users who have embarked on Meta’s Imagine feature, which includes uploading photos to that feature, and have accepted the terms of the feature,” a Meta spokesperson explains to BI. “The contents imagined for you by Meta AI will only be shown to you and you will have the option to share them with your friends and family”.
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Users who view these images will be able to opt out of this feature by tapping the three dots in the top right corner of a post. If they choose “hide”, they will stop seeing similar posts in their feeds, and if they choose “stop seeing this content”, they will turn off AI-suggested images of themselves.
Matt Navarra, social media consultant and industry analyst, explains to BI that for Meta it is crucial to “find a balance between AI-powered features and genuine user-generated content.”
“There is a novelty factor, and that in itself could drive engagement and possibly keep people in the feeds and on the platform for longer,” Navarra says of expanding the feature. “However, the long-term response will largely depend on the quality and relevance of the AI-generated content, because if it’s just more AI filth in feeds, I’m not sure how, in the long term , that will be able to keep people engaged without causing additional problems for Meta.”
“If it is intrusive or repetitive, and does not fit their interests, users are likely to lose interest,” adds Navarra. “There’s also the possibility that users may feel a little uncomfortable with their appearance being used in AI-generated images or how personalized they may become.”
Kevin Roose, podcast co-host Hard Fork of The New York Timeshas defined the new function as “the creepiest thing you imagine they could do” in a recent episode.
“Imagine you’re talking about fishing with your friend, and suddenly, because you’ve clicked on some fishing stuff, you’re scrolling through your Instagram feed and you see a photo of yourself in a fishing outfit going fishing,” Roose explains in the podcast.
“It will make you want to throw your phone into the nearest body of water and never connect to that social network again,” he predicts.
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Tags: Trending, Artificial intelligence, Meta, Facebook, Instagram
