Instagram AI labels are once again causing confusion, with users reporting that the platform has been automatically applying an “AI Content” tag to images they neither created nor edited using generative AI tools. The visible labels are intended to help people spot synthetically generated content at a glance, yet over recent weeks the system appears to have gone awry. At the same time, genuine AI imagery has been slipping through undetected, undermining trust across the platform.
The reasons behind the erroneous tagging seem to vary. Many users said the label appeared on photographs edited with tools such as Canva’s Background Remover, or after negligible use of blemish-fixing features. One person on Threads said Instagram applied the label “every time there is bg remover involved”, while another reported it appeared after removing “a speckle” from a photo, resulting in the entire image being flagged as AI. In other instances, the causes are even less clear.
A recurring problem for Meta
This labelling issue echoes a similar problem that affected photography on Instagram with a “Made by AI” label in 2024, a few months after the feature launched. That February, Meta announced it would scan images for IPTC and C2PA metadata, which can indicate with reasonable certainty whether generative AI was used to create or manipulate an image. The company has remained vague about its methods, however. In 2024, the detection system reportedly caught pictures whose Adobe metadata showed they had been retouched with generative AI tools, even where the changes were extremely minor and resulted in substantively the same photograph.
Meta subsequently promised to adjust its approach to better reflect “the amount of AI used in an image”. It also said it relies on “industry standard indicators that other companies include in content from their tools”, though there is no recent information about what those indicators are, or how and when it scans for them.
Assistive AI mistaken for generative tools
The recently reported labels do not have a clear link to generative AI usage. While features such as background removal often use machine learning, it is the same assistive variety that apps like Photoshop have used in object selection and removal tools for over a decade, rather than the generative text-to-picture tools typically associated with deceptive AI imagery.
At least some of the recent mishaps appear to stem from Canva. After the Background Remover concerns were raised, content strategist Jess Bruno reported that Canva provided an explanation: some of the design platform’s assistive AI tools “were being tagged as generative”. Canva said its tools are now tagging correctly. A message on Canva’s background removal help page also states that using the tool “doesn’t add Canva’s AI-generated content metadata to your design”, though it is unclear whether that note is new.
Source
Image: theverge.com
