Meta Tests AI-Generated Instagram Comments

In the last few years, Meta's been diving deep into the world of AI, throwing all sorts of new features into their apps. They even tried out AI-generated characters with their own quirky profiles and personalities, but quickly pulled the plug when folks found them a bit too weird and not really needed.

Now, they're at it again with a move that might not sit well with everyone. Meta's looking to use AI to help you chat with your friends on Instagram by suggesting comments for you to post.

Jonah Manzano, a guy who's always on the lookout for new social media tricks, stumbled upon a "Write with Meta AI" option on Instagram. This lets you tap into AI to get some comment ideas for other people's posts.

If you're one of the lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you see it) folks testing this out, you'll spot a little pencil icon next to the comment box under a post. Tap it, and Meta AI jumps into action, checking out the photo and spitting out three comment suggestions.

Say you're looking at a pic of someone grinning with a thumbs-up in their living room. Meta AI might suggest you say something like "Cute living room setup," "Love the cozy atmosphere," or "Great photo shoot location." Not feeling those? No worries, just hit refresh for more options.

Meta didn't spill the beans on how widely this test feature is available, but they did mention they tried something similar with AI-generated comments on Facebook last year.

This new feature might not be a hit with users who prefer their Instagram comments to be real and from the heart. A lot of folks miss the old days when Instagram felt more genuine and less about putting on a show. Adding AI comments could just feel fake and unnecessary to them.

As with any test, it's up in the air whether Meta will roll this out to everyone.

It's also worth mentioning that Meta's been playing around with AI in comments in other ways, like testing AI-generated comment summaries on Facebook last year.