Instagram Now Lets Users Create AI Versions of Themselves

Meta is opening up the ability for anyone in the United States to create AI versions of themselves on Instagram or the web, with a new tool called AI Studio.

The idea is that creators and business owners will use these AI profiles to talk to their followers on their behalf. They’ll be able to speak directly with humans in threads and respond to comments on their creator’s account. Meta says Instagram users in the US can get started with AI Studio through its website or by starting a new “AI chat” directly within Instagram.

In a blog post published Monday, the company writes that “creators can customize their AI based on things like their Instagram content, topics to avoid, and links they want to share.” The post goes on to say that creators will be able to enable things like auto-replies from their AI and dictate which specific accounts it is allowed to interact with.

AI Studio also lets you create completely new AI characters that can be deployed in Meta’s apps. Meta follows in the footsteps of startups like Character.AI and Replika, where people are already talking to and falling in love with themed chatbots. Similar to OpenAI’s custom GPT store, Meta will also surface the AI ​​characters people create for others to try out.

Meta’s first attempt at this concept involved asking a handful of celebrities to create AI versions of themselves with the same likeness but different names and personas. At the time, Meta said it took this approach because it was concerned that AI versions of celebrities would say problematic things on behalf of their human counterparts. (Even with AI Studio’s built-in controls, this is still inevitable. This is generative AI, after all.)

It seems that Meta is at least aware that this is tricky territory. The company says that AI profiles are clearly labeled wherever they appear. A company handbook for creators explains the AI ​​creation process in more detail, and it seems that it’s up to the creator to list the topics that an AI won’t engage with. One of the questions Meta might ask an AI not to answer is, “Should I invest in crypto?”