Meta spotted testing AI-generated comments on Instagram

In recent years, Meta has introduced many AI features and capabilities to its apps, even going so far as experimenting with AI-generated characters complete with unique profiles and personalities, before scrapping them after they were deemed creepy and unnecessary.

In yet another move that may not be received well among users, Meta wants to use AI to facilitate interactions between friends by helping them write comments on Instagram.

X user Jonah Manzano, who often tests new social media features, spotted a “Write with Meta AI” prompt on Instagram that allows people to get AI-generated suggestions for comments to users’ posts.

Users who have access to the test feature will see a pencil icon next to the text bar under a post that they can tap to start accessing Meta AI, according to a video posted by Manzano. From there, Meta AI will analyze the photo before generating three suggestions for comments.

For example, if the photo you want to leave a comment on is of someone smiling with a thumbs-up in their living room, Meta AI suggests that users comment “Cute living room setup,” “Love the cozy atmosphere,” or “Great photo shoot location.” If users don’t like the first three AI-generated comments, they can refresh to get more suggestions.

“We regularly test more features for you to use Meta AI across our apps,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch via email. “Outside of DMs, you will find Meta AI there for you in areas like comments, feed, groups, and search to make your experiences more fun and useful.”

Meta did not provide any details of the test feature’s availability, but the company noted it tested AI-generated comments on Facebook last year.

The new feature would likely be an unwelcome one for users who would rather keep comments AI-free on Instagram, especially those who believe their friends deserve genuine comments as opposed to AI slop. Many users yearn for the days when Instagram was more authentic and there wasn’t as much pressure to perform, so the addition of AI comments could be deemed inauthentic and unnecessary.

As with any test feature, it’s unknown when or if Meta plans to roll out the feature more widely.

It’s worth noting that Meta has experimented with leveraging AI in comments in different ways, as the company was spotted testing AI-generated comment summaries on Facebook last year.