What's going on: Today in reason #361 to make your profile private, Meta rolled out new technology that enables anyone to generate AI images of adults with public Instagram accounts — not just celebrities, but you or your friends. The update, called Muse Image, is now on the Meta AI app, Instagram, and WhatsApp, with plans to eventually bring it to Facebook, Messenger, and advertisers. If you have a public account, your photos are automatically available (congrats?). The good news is that you can opt-out. Understandably, many people aren't thrilled that their image can now be manipulated without their consent — or even without being notified. Meta says Muse is meant for things like custom invitations and personalized graphics, but critics worry it could just as easily be used to create deepfakes for impersonation and harassment. #TBT to when Instagram was just filters and food pics.
So… lawsuit?: When it comes to AI, we're still in a legal wild west. As AI companies fight copyright lawsuits in court and quietly pay out settlements, they just keep on rolling out new, more intrusive tech. Meta says Muse Image includes safeguards to prevent illegal, abusive, or defamatory images. But critics note that similar guardrails on other AI image platforms have repeatedly been bypassed — helping fuel the spread of celebrity deepfakes and other manipulated images. That's one reason talent agency CAA and performers' union SAG-AFTRA are urging Meta to make Muse Image opt-in rather than opt-out. And for other reasons, just ask any woman who’s ever had a creep slide into her DMs.
