By Blinter Magazine Staff

Even those with the most anti-stance on Artificial Intelligence seem to find themselves playing into the hands of AI when they use Instagram. Whether it’s for lack of questioning trends before participating or lack of understanding around how AI mines the app, we thought we’d write a simplified guide for how to resist AI on Instagram.

But first, it’s important to establish the relationship between the two.

How does AI use Instagram?

It’s very clear that AI has a role to play on Instagram. AI-generated content is getting so prevalent that Instagram executives expect it to outnumber human content in a few years. They’re encouraging influencers to post “unflattering” shots to ensure that their audiences know that a human is behind their account.

Adam Mosseri, the CEO of Instagram, said on threads that “Authenticity is fast becoming a scarce resource, which will in turn drive more demand for creator content, not less. The creators who succeed will be those who figure out how to maintain their authenticity whether or not they adopt new technologies. That’s harder now—not easier—because everyone can simulate authenticity.”

In other words, those leading social media are betting on AI becoming the norm; the default; the expected content. They’re asking people to move forward with the same expectations and change habits to accommodate them. They’re pushing content that aligns with all of this to make these expectations a reality. Meanwhile, social media usage rates are up, feeds are now controlled and ordered by AI, and users are being pressured and even cornered into using the AI features.

It’s clear that, with or without the consent and enthusiasm of the people who use it, Instagram is trying to force the world to use AI. The best answer? Get off Instagram. Get off apps that use AI. But, if you’re staying (for the sake of your career or otherwise), there are some things you can do to resist AI to some degree. In between, protest, write angry letters, and make your opposition very clear in the real world, too. It’s not just the social media billionaires who should have a say in what the future looks like.

5 ways to resist AI on the app

The best way to resist AI is to spend more time in the real world. Support third spaces. Read or take a walk instead of scrolling social media. Go to the movies for entertainment instead of using apps that utilize the technology. Stay in touch with people in real life, on the phone, or via letters rather than through comments and posts.

But, while there are certain settings available to users, depending on the country, there are other easy steps that everyone can take as they engage on the app. We’ve gathered 5 ways to resist AI on Instagram when it comes to posting habits and activities.

1. Stop putting text over your photos

There’s a reason it’s a trend— you’re literally giving clearly categorized, easily contextualized, perfectly paired written-visual data to AI when you post text over your photos. You’re training computer vision to understand something that used to be complex (images) by pairing each picture with text it can read and now associate in a more nuanced way.

2. On that note, stop going with trends

Think about who runs the algorithm and app. Think about who has the power, and who the trends most benefit. Always question why.

Is this really just a fun trend to go viral, or is this training AI to learn how to distinguish between millennials’ and Gen Zers’ speaking patterns, slang, and preferences? Is this really aesthetic, or is this helping AI understand what humans associate with images of trees? If that’s not mental work you’re prepared to do, just avoid trends altogether.

3. Post screenshots, not original images

This strips down the data and takes the power away from AI to analyze it. Some users choose to edit their photos, zoom out, take a screenshot (it will include a white border, like a print, in some apps), and use that image for social media instead of the original. If you’re tech-savvy, you can strip the data layers out of the photograph before posting instead.

4. Don’t follow those who promote AI

Don’t like or share their posts. Don’t engage. If you want to talk about something they did/said, just talk/write about it. Reference it. Don’t repost.

5. Be complex, long-winded, and uncategorized

Stop assuming that the people who see your posts are incapable of understanding complex thought, writing, or associations. Whether you’re an influencer with followers you don’t know or someone who still uses Instagram like a digital photo album for your loved ones, humans are on the other end of your posts.

Humans are smart. And if they’re using Instagram, they can understand you. They have original thoughts, read (rather than scan or mine for information), and have feelings. AI doesn’t. What benefits from you assuming that people don’t understand you, won’t research, don’t know what you’re referring to, or just won’t take the time to read your caption? AI.

AI benefits from easily digestible, quick to read, easy to analyze, clearly categorized, and simply contextualized content. People do not. That doesn’t reflect the human experience, and it doesn’t make people smarter, more creative, or better off. AI wants Instagram users to gear what they do online toward it and its needs. It wants them to dumb themselves down, label and categorize everything, and make its job more efficient.

There’s a difference between human accessibility and AI accessibility. Don’t let AI combine them.