Instagram, a part of Meta, rolled out a new AI-driven background editing feature for its users in the United States on Wednesday.
Announced by Meta’s generative AI lead, Ahmad Al-Dahle, via a post on Threads, this tool allows users to alter the backgrounds of their images in Stories using various prompts.
Users can access this feature by tapping the background editor icon on an image. The tool offers preset prompts such as “On a red carpet,” “Being chased by dinosaurs,” and “Surrounded by puppies.”
Additionally, users have the flexibility to create custom prompts for personalized background changes. When a Story with these AI-created backgrounds is posted, other users will see a “Try it” sticker, enabling them to experiment with the background generation tool themselves.
This release comes in the wake of Snapchat introducing a similar feature for its premium subscribers, allowing them to generate AI-based images.
Snapchat had previously launched ‘Dreams’ in August, a feature for creating imaginative self-images, and earlier in the year, it enabled Snapchat+ users to use prompts for custom backgrounds.
Earlier this month, Meta expanded the availability of its 28 AI-generated characters to all its applications, including WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, for users in the U.S.
This was complemented by Bing search support and improved context windows. Concurrently, Meta introduced a dedicated AI image generator named Imagine with Meta, utilizing its proprietary Emu model.
Last month, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, announced that the platform now enables global users to download public Reels directly to their devices.
Previously, users could only save these videos within Instagram for later viewing. In his Instagram broadcast, Mosseri mentioned that these downloaded Reels will feature an Instagram watermark and the account name, similar to the watermark seen on TikTok videos.
To download a Reel, users can click the share button and choose the download option. However, account holders can disable the downloading feature for their Reels.
This can be done by navigating to Settings > Privacy > Reels and Remix and toggling the “Allow people to download your Reels” option.
