Instagram must change quickly as AI content blurs reality, warns Adam Mosseri

Meta Platforms’ photo-and-video sharing app Instagram is under one of the most drastic transformations in its history as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to change what people see and believe on the internet. In a year-end note, the head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said the social network is running out of time to pivot if it wants to preserve the things that made the platform special in the first place.

Instagram has long been centered on the idea that photos and videos represent an authentic glimpse into someone’s life. Over the years, content shared on the network has become more and more polished. But the concept of authenticity itself is being called into question in an age where AI can generate photorealistic visuals that are nearly indistinguishable from an actual photo or video. “Authenticity is becoming infinitely reproducible,” Mosseri wrote in a 20-slide post published on Instagram and Threads on Dec. 31, 2025.

AI is transforming social media in big ways

AI-generated media has continued to explode in 2025. Tools like Google’s text-to-image model Nano Banana and OpenAI’s video generator Sora have given many people the power to create their own viral visuals in seconds. The difference between what’s real and what’s not is becoming increasingly hard to parse as synthetic media is made to look more and more realistic. Instagram has even released its own AI features, like a standalone Edits app for creators to trim and edit videos, that use AI in some way to help people tell stories.

Mosseri says this shift has profound consequences for how people use social media. Curated, edited posts and photos that were once the gold standard of Instagram feeds have begun to fall flat with younger users in recent years. Rather, private messages shared directly with others are the primary way in which content is shared on social media – and this content is being shared raw and unfiltered. The implication is clear, Mosseri argues: If unedited media is the new gold standard, the old ways of achieving authenticity on social media will soon be replaced with new things that are unique, creative or simply hard to reproduce.

How to trust and verify what we see online

One of the most pressing questions for platforms like Instagram going forward is how to tell the difference between real and fake content. Mosseri said the most common approach – detecting and labeling inauthentic or synthetic media – is only a stopgap measure. As AI tools continue to improve and advance, the practice may become untenable in the long run. To fix this, he suggested more radical approaches like cryptographically signing real photos and videos at the moment they are captured to generate a digital fingerprint that can help to verify their authenticity in the future.

The technology for that idea isn’t yet mature, but it does illustrate where the discussion is going around what it means to trust content on social networks in the future. Instagram may also surface more signals about the credibility of who is posting and why, the company said, as well as tools that let creators differentiate themselves and be more creative.

Trust, transparency and creativity will be key

Mosseri’s announcement is a tacit admission that Instagram is no longer just a photo-sharing app. It’s becoming a social network that has to help people understand and deal with a world of ubiquitous AI. As that content becomes more pervasive on the platform, Instagram’s future updates will likely be centered on building trust and transparency while empowering users and creators to take advantage of the technology. The focus for Instagram as a platform will be one of fostering creativity and authenticity as the new badges of credibility.

In sum, Instagram’s days as a photo-sharing app are coming to an end. If it is to survive in a future where the reality itself can be simulated by AI at the click of a button, the app has no choice but to change – quickly.