Instagram’s Latest Innovations: AI Message Writing and Threads Post Bookmarks in Testing Phase
Sneak Peek: Leaked Screenshots Reveal ‘Write with AI’ Prompt in Instagram Direct Messages
Amid Meta AI’s ongoing exploration of AI-driven enhancements across its platforms, Instagram appears to be delving into the realm of artificial intelligence with a potential new feature. A recent leak suggests that the social media giant is actively developing an AI-powered message-writing tool.
This innovative feature is purported to empower users to refine, rephrase, and imbue stylistic flair into their written exchanges within Instagram direct messages (DMs). Concurrently, Meta’s latest social media venture, Threads, is undergoing testing for a new functionality: post saving. This feature, once implemented, will enable users to bookmark posts for later perusal.
Mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi recently shed light on these developments via X (formerly Twitter), unveiling a screenshot showcasing the “Write With AI” prompt embedded within a chat box when selected text is detected. In response to queries regarding its functionality, Paluzzi hinted at the potential for the AI tool to offer paraphrasing and style adjustments akin to Google’s Magic Compose feature. As speculation mounts and anticipation builds, these leaks offer a tantalizing glimpse into the future of AI-driven communication and content curation within Meta’s expansive ecosystem.
While details about the AI message-writing feature are not known — given that a user has to select and highlight the text for the option to show up — it appears that the AI cannot generate messages on its own within the text field. As such, the feature is more like an AI text editor. Similar existing tools offer features such as rewriting, summarising, increasing the length of the text, changing the tonality and style structure, as well as adding more contextual content to it.
It should be noted that Instagram’s AI can already generate content through a different process. For that, users have to type “@Meta AI” followed by the message in any chat, and the AI will respond to it. Others in the chat will also be able to see the message. Notably, the company claims that the AI can only read the message where it is tagged, and the rest of the texts will remain private. Similarly, it will not be able to respond to any follow-up queries if it is not tagged. At present, Meta AI, which powers Instagram’s AI features, is only available in the US.
Separately, Threads is also testing a new feature. Users will soon be able to bookmark their favourite posts by tapping on the option Save. Instagram head Adam Mosseri, who also overlooks Threads, said in a post that the feature will work similarly to Bookmark on Instagram. There is no announced date for the rollout of this feature, but it is expected to roll out to beta testers and regular users soon.
