Instagram has more than a billion user and the number is still growing exponentially. Being under the umbrella of bigwig Facebook, Instagram has received a number of features after Facebook took over it a few years ago. Facebook, on the other hand, has invested heavily in developing artificial intelligence for various aspects of day-to-day life and that’s where Instagram gets its share with AI. First, it was anti-cyberbullying attempted in captions and comments and now, Instagram is rolling out a feature that will use AI to block off bullying photos and videos on the platform too.
According to the reports, users have already learned to bypass the text filter on Instagram by posting a photo they tend to bully or harass or other such negative purposes, however, after this feature is rolled out completely, it will block off the bullying-related content completely.
The feature works with artificial intelligence that detects instances of harassment and bullying in photos posted on the platform targeting a person’s character or appearance, health, well-being, and others. This also includes comparison photos wherein users could post split-screen photos comparing someone in a negative way. When encountering such instances, the AI technology will detect the photos and won’t act as an executioner but instead, it will forward such uploads to the human reviewers who will review and flag the photos and videos as appropriate or inappropriate.
Users will get ‘Hide Offensive Comments’ feature in the Settings within the app that will allow them to filter out words offensive comments or words, etc as well as auto-filter the posts containing the most reported words or phrases.
The move will prevent users from posting defamatory notes as photos or images containing obscene, bullying or harassment-inducing content. The feature was announced earlier this year and Instagram finally started rolling it out after Adam Mosseri was appointed the leader of the photo-sharing site after its co-founders resigned citing differences with the decisions made with the features rolled out on Instagram. Instagram also unveiled a “kindness camera effect” with dancer Maddie Ziegler of Sia’s Chandelier (music video) fame where the users can post their photos with kind comments and hearts.
As of now, the anti-bullying feature is available for photos and videos and will be available across the platform in coming weeks but it will soon roll out for IGTV soon.
