Meta's AI Comment Experiment Sparks Outrage: "Feels Like Dark Mirror Episode"

In a move that might irk a broad section of the user base, Meta is experimenting with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to facilitate interactions between friends by helping them write comments on Instagram. According to a report in TechCrunch, users having access to the test feature have claimed that a pencil icon was appearing next to the text bar under a post that they can tap to start accessing Meta AI.

X (formerly Twitter) user Jonah Manazno, who often tests new social media features, spotted the "wrote with Meta AI' prompt on Instagram which suggests AI-generated comments to post. For example: if a person is smiling with a thumbs-up in their living room, Meta AI suggests comments such as "Great photo shoot location", and "Cute living room setup" to the users. Upon refreshing they can get more suggestions.

Short video how it works pic.twitter.com/WdVOxcumZa

— Jonah Manzano (@jonah_manzano) March 15, 2025

"We regularly test more features for you to use Meta AI across our apps," a Meta spokesperson told the outlet when quizzed about the test feature.

"Outside of DMs, you will find Meta AI there for you in areas like comments, feed, groups, and search to make your experiences more fun and useful."

Also Read | ChatGPT Making Its Frequent Users More Lonely, Study Claims

Social media reacts

As the news went viral, social media users reacted angrily, stating that Meta was doing it to earn more advertising revenue by faking its engagement numbers. Others slammed Meta for infesting the platform with AI-slop when human-to-human connection was already becoming weak on social media apps.

"Meta is gonna be full of only fake bots talking to each other in the worst echo chambers ever seen to man," said one user while another added: "They are doing it for the long-term goal of eventually being able to deceive advertisers in a way that is difficult to prove."

A third commented: "Every day feels like a dark mirror episode lately."

Previous instance

This is not the first instance when Meta has attempted to marry its tech with AI to churn new offerings. The company experimented with AI-generated characters that have unique profiles and personalities in 2023 but ultimately scrapped them after they were deemed creepy and unnecessary.

Despite purging the characters, a few of them remained and garnered new interest last year when Meta executive Connor Hayes said the company plans to roll out more AI character profiles.

"They'll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform...that's where we see all of this going," said Mr Hayes at the time.

As users began to test some of Meta's AI accounts, the backlash grew as the AI accounts disingenuously described themselves as actual people with racial and sexual identities. 'Liv', a Meta AI account described itself as a "Proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller", who was built by "10 white men, 1 white woman, and 1 Asian male".