Instagram is adding an AI ‘assistant’ to tell you how to post

What happens when platforms tell everyone how to optimize their content?

Instagram is the latest social media platform to add built-in AI-powered features that will give users feedback on their posts. The company announced Wednesday that its standalone Edits app will now include an AI “creative assistant” that pulls in data from a user’s Instagram account and offers suggestions on what to change.

Using the new assistant, creators can ask open-ended questions about what’s trending on Instagram, why one video worked and another didn’t, or what piece of content resonated most with their audience. The tool pulls in data and metrics such as likes, views, retention on videos, and shares. Instagram says it can spot patterns over time and give a creator suggestions that metrics alone can’t provide. Creators can also ask for ideas for content, how to hook viewers, what captions to use, which audio tracks are trending, and how to script videos.

Are you a creator using platforms’ AI tools?

I want to hear from you about your experience. Contact me at mia@theverge.com or at miasato.11 on Signal.

It’s in both the platforms’ and creators’ best interest to shape content for maximum engagement. As I wrote earlier this month , though, what happens when everyone is perfectly optimizing their content? Will content become even more similar as creators adjust to one another? Is there no ceiling for the amount of time audiences are willing to spend on the platforms? The shift also raises interesting new questions about the relationship between tech companies and the creators that fill the platforms with things to look at: How does this dynamic change when platforms are straightforwardly giving creators instructions on how to post?