Instagram Replaces ‘Made with AI’ Label with ‘AI Info’ Following Photographers' Concerns

On Monday, Meta announced an update to its labeling system, changing the “Made with AI” tag to “AI info” across its platforms. This change comes in response to user complaints about incorrect tagging of images. For instance, former White House photographer Pete Souza noted that a photo he uploaded, taken on film 40 years ago during a basketball game, was mislabeled, likely due to the use of Adobe’s cropping tool which may have altered the metadata.

Kate McLaughlin, a spokesperson for Meta, emphasized that the new label aims to clarify that content may have been modified rather than implying it is entirely AI-generated. The confusion mainly arises from how metadata tools, such as those in Adobe Photoshop, interact with image interpretation on various platforms. Following Meta's expansion of its AI content labeling policies, real photographs on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Threads have occasionally been mistakenly tagged as “Made with AI.”

Adobe has expressed concern over this labeling practice. Andy Parsons, senior director of Adobe's Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), stated that content should only be labeled as AI-generated when it is entirely created by AI. He highlighted that many users utilize AI for aesthetic enhancements similar to traditional editing techniques.

The new label will first appear on mobile apps before making its way to web views. When users click the tag, they will encounter a message similar to the previous label, which offers a detailed explanation of the tagging process. It indicates that the label may apply to either fully AI-generated images or those enhanced using AI technology.

The intended evolution of metadata standards, such as C2PA, aims to simplify the differentiation between AI-generated and authentic images. Adobe is committed to providing transparency through Content Credentials, which serve as a "nutrition label" for digital content by detailing the creator's information, creation date, tools used, and any edits made.

As the conversation around AI in creative workflows continues to grow, it is crucial for content labeling to accurately reflect the nature of the images presented. By ensuring that only wholly AI-generated content is labeled as such, users can better understand the authenticity of the material they are viewing.