By Joseph Hammann, Staff Writer

Artificial Intelligence (AI) development has been taking technology by storm through methods such as algorithmic writing, image generation and more. With this rise in popularity, it makes sense for large social media companies to try to hop on the bandwagon of having their own unique AI agents to keep their platforms running.  

Since AI went mainstream, I have been very skeptical of what it offers. One of the first pieces of AI-generated content I used was image generation software in a class called Emerging Art Forms. The AI image generation was not good, but it was still rather young at the time, years away from the advanced AI we see now. 

I have always avoided ChatGPT like the plague since I know how much it is used for cheating and how, due to its algorithm-based nature, it will sometimes give false and unreliable outputs.  

Now, what does this have to do with AI on social media?  

It doesn’t surprise me that so many social media platforms — such as Meta, X and  Instagram — have hopped on the AI train. In fact, many of these social media platforms have been using AI algorithms to run their sites for a long time. However, when I think of AI tools offered on social media platforms, the first ones that come to my mind are stuff like X Grok and Meta-Instagram AI.  

It was inevitable that social media platforms would add AI algorithms to train their users’ data, which is to say that the machine learning model must process your data to generate what it thinks you will want. I have one overbearing issue with that.

 Like many people, I am very protective of my social media posts and presence and would hate for my data to be put in the wrong hands. I want to do what I can to prevent AI from using my content. As a graphic design major and digital artist, I hate having my content trained to create AI art since it removes the soul of the craft. Plus, it’s stealing.  

Here’s the issue, though. Upon release, the Meta-Instagram AI and X Grok were turned on for all users, meaning that they could start using people’s data without their knowledge. Since I quit using X in February, before Grok’s stable release, I didn’t immediately think to turn it off until someone else alerted me, prompting me to check off the box and stop Grok from training my data. 

For Meta AI, on the other hand, it gets more frustrating.  Unlike Grok, Meta-Instagram AI doesn’t have the option to tick a box to stop it from training your data in the United States. It had to be done through some convoluted loophole in a one-month timeframe that has now passed, and they went with the philosophy of “no answer  = yes” when it comes to training posts with AI. 

Instagram users are stuck with the lurking knowledge that Meta AI can be training with their data without their permission, which I see as a breach of online privacy. This frustration caused me to use Instagram less, and I started migrating to Cara, an image-sharing platform that prohibits AI content.  

But not everything about AI in social media is bad. In fact, AI has found itself rather helpful for marketers, designers and other professions to construct emails, documents and templates. I don’t think using AI for business is going away anytime soon, but I think the AI that companies should focus on is the AI that helps, not steals.  

I am not opposed to social media platforms using AI. I am just opposed to them when they don’t give users an option to back out of having their data trained. I think social media platforms should give their users the choice from this point forward. I don’t hate AI in general, I just hate that it steals from users.