Meta Faces Backlash for Less Prominent AI Labels

Meta is changing the way it labels content that has been edited or modified by AI tools on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. For this type of content, Meta is moving the “AI info”to the post’s menu. In the past, the label would appear directly under the user’s name. 

The company says the label will still appear under content that it has detected was generated by an AI tool. This means that although the label is being hidden for content that was changed or edited by AI tools, it will still be prominently displayed under content that was fully generated by an AI prompt.

For content that was generated by AI, Meta will “share whether the content is labeled because of industry-shared signals or because someone self-disclosed,” the company says.

Meta says the change, which is rolling out next week, will “better reflect the extent of AI used in content” on its platforms. 

By making the AI info label harder to find, it might be easier for users to be deceived by content that was edited with AI, especially as editing tools become more and more advanced.

Given that generative AI is a relatively newer technology, this isn’t the first time that Meta has changed how it labels such content on its platforms. In July, the company changed its AI label from “Made with AI” to “AI info” after Meta received complaints from photographers who said the label was being added to real photos. 

At the time of the change, Meta said the original wording of the label wasn’t clear enough for users to understand that certain images with the tag were not necessarily created with AI, but may have been edited using AI-powered tools.