Meta pulls AI image generator following SAG-AFTRA backlash: “Missed the mark”
Meta has sheepishly pulled its latest AI image generator after the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) trashed the new feature.
On July 7th, Meta launched Muse Image, which can generate artificial images using other people’s profile pictures without their consent; instead, Instagram users had to opt out in the settings of their profile.
This is exactly what SAG-AFTRA suggested their members do in a statement on July 9th, which encouraged everyone to disable the controversial new tool.
Their statement shared, “SAG-AFTRA recommends that #SagAftraMembers (and all Instagram users) opt-OUT of Meta’s new AI image generation tool, Muse Image. Take action to protect your likeness.”
Only a day later, on July 10th, Meta announced that the feature was “no longer available” on Instagram. The huge company admitted that it “missed the mark” amid privacy concerns for unsuspecting users.
Meta’s statement explained that “our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way.”
Meta likely heard the public outcry from SAG-AFTRA, as well as The Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which also called for Meta to implement guardrails for Muse.
“No one’s name, image, likeness, voice, or creative work should be used by any third party, including AI models, without clear, documented consent. True innovation puts creators first: respecting their rights, protecting their livelihoods, and giving them real control, not handing it over to platforms,” a CAA spokesperson said.
Elsewhere, AI continues to divide all of the creative industries; over in the film industry, Oppenheimer director Christoper Nolan celebrated the “rejection” of AI by young filmmakers, while Martin Scorsese champions its adoption in the idea creation stage of filmmaking.
Additionally, actor Cate Blanchett recently launched a new website that allows actors to provide or withdraw their consent for their likenesses to be used by AI.
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