Instagram to label AI-generated profiles and limit reach for those who do not comply
The new label will clarify that it is a character created by artificial intelligence and not a real person. Accounts that do not use it may suffer a reduction in reach.
Instagram is changing the rules for accounts that feature characters created by artificial intelligence. According to the company's blog post, such profiles will be required to use a new 'AI-generated profile' label, and if they do not do so, their reach will be limited. Instagram clarifies that the label is intended to signal to users that this is not a real person, but a profile featuring an AI character.
'We heard from our community that they don't like encountering a profile that looks human, only to find out later that the person appearing in it was created by artificial intelligence,' said an Instagram spokesperson.
According to him, accounts that feature humans created by AI and do not use the label may soon see restrictions on their reach.
This change does not mean that Instagram is declaring total war on AI content. Until now, there was an optional label in the app called 'AI creator,' which was used more broadly by profiles that regularly uploaded content created by artificial intelligence. Now it is being replaced by a more focused label, intended, according to the description within the app, for profiles that feature a person created by artificial intelligence.
The background is clear: as AI tools have improved, it has become easier to create convincing characters that look like completely normal influencers. According to The Guardian, AI-generated influencers have already been exposed promoting apps and other brands; The New York Times found hundreds of such wellness influencers, including those who presented themselves as doctors. Even if much of this content does not explicitly violate Meta's rules, it does raise concerns about the spread of misleading information. In Israel, too, large companies have been using AI influencers in recent years, among them companies like Super-Pharm and Gulliver.
Those who are affected by the move and think that Instagram has labeled them by mistake will be able to appeal through the app's Account Status panel. In the meantime, the rest of the AI content flooding the feed remains more or less outside this move.
