Instagram is taking a clearer approach to accounts built around artificial intelligence, introducing a new label that will identify profiles whose main personalities are entirely AI-generated.
The Meta-owned social media platform is replacing its existing “AI creator” tag with “AI-generated profile”. The new wording is intended to make it easier for users to understand when the person or character behind an account is not a real human.
The change comes as virtual influencers, digital models and fictional personalities become more common across social media. Advances in generative AI have made synthetic faces, voices and lifestyles increasingly convincing, making it harder for users to distinguish between genuine creators and computer-generated identities.
Instagram said feedback from users played a role in the change. Some people reported feeling uncomfortable after discovering that an account they believed represented a real person was actually based on an AI-created character.
The new disclosure is aimed specifically at profiles where an AI-generated person serves as the central identity. This includes virtual influencers, synthetic models, digitally created lifestyle personalities and fictional characters designed to communicate with audiences like human creators.
Creators can activate the label through their Instagram profile settings. Once enabled, the “AI-generated profile” disclosure will appear on the account and can also be displayed alongside content when there is no other clear indication that AI was used to create or edit it.
Instagram stressed that the rule does not apply to every creator who uses artificial intelligence. A photographer who uses AI to improve an image, a creator who relies on AI to write captions or a real influencer experimenting with generative design tools does not need to label their entire profile as AI-generated.
The key issue is whether the account presents an AI-created person as the identity behind the profile.
Creators who fail to disclose an AI-generated identity could face restrictions on their reach. Instagram may notify an account owner if it identifies an unlabeled AI-generated profile and make the account ineligible for recommendations.
Such a restriction could reduce the number of people who discover posts through Instagram’s recommendation systems, Explore and other areas designed to introduce users to accounts they do not already follow.
Instagram said creators who voluntarily apply the label will not be punished simply because their profile is AI-generated. Accounts that are restricted can add the appropriate disclosure or appeal the decision through the platform’s Account Status section.
The new wording also draws a clearer distinction between using AI as a production tool and operating an AI-based identity. That distinction could become increasingly important for brands as virtual personalities enter advertising campaigns in fashion, beauty, travel, wellness and other industries.
As synthetic faces and voices become harder to distinguish from real ones, Instagram’s policy reflects a growing effort to give users more information about who they are interacting with online.
