Meta on Tuesday unveiled Muse Image, its new AI image generator built by Meta Superintelligence Labs, the company’s dedicated AI unit. The feature, which was internally code-named Mango, is now available for free through the Meta AI app, as well as on Instagram Stories and WhatsApp.
Unfortunately, the new model is already causing controversy.
What exactly can you do with Muse? It sounds like the use cases are similar to most other AI image generators — you’ll be able to create plenty of goofy, cartoonish images, for instance.
If you’re short on inspiration and can’t come up with original prompts on your own, Meta says that Muse comes with “presets” — prefabricated image prompts — to “spark ideas.”
However, a particularly eyebrow-raising feature allows users to manipulate another Instagram user’s images with AI, as long as that user’s profile is public. Users merely tag the person, and it allows them to take their picture and use it to create a new AI image.
Said one X user after The Verge first pointed out how potentially invasive this is, “Pulling real users into generated photos without explicit consent is a privacy landmine waiting to detonate.”
Meta policy states that “people may be able to create content with your Instagram content using AI features at Meta” and that “You will not be notified about content created using AI features at Meta.”
Meta claims users “have control” over this feature, noting that there are settings you can use to disable this kind of co-option of your pictures if you want to.
Muse has other, less invasive applications. One is creating custom ads (AI has notably crept into advertising over the past year). Another is experimenting with interior decorating ideas — in a promotional video, a user leverages Muse to see what a secondhand couch might look like in their garage. This last function is designed to integrate with Facebook Marketplace, Meta’s popular Craigslist-like locus of used furniture and accessories.
The model also features prompt-based image editing, which lets users create images to share across Meta’s apps and platforms
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