Instagram has introduced a new artificial intelligence-powered feature that allows users to pixelate people in photographs shared through Stories.
The feature aims to give users a simple way to conceal identities before posting.
The new Pixel effect, allows users to use an AI prompt to obscure a person or object in an image.
The effect can make a person heavily pixelated while keeping the rest of the photograph intact.
To use the effect, users can open Instagram, create a new story and select a photograph.
From the editing options, they can access the AI effects and choose the Pixel effect.
Users can then enter a prompt describing what they want the AI to obscure, such as asking it to make a person extremely pixelated, before previewing the result and sharing the Story.
In July, Meta announced more than 30 new AI-powered effects for Instagram Stories, powered by its Muse Image model.
The company said the effects would allow users to transform photographs with a single tap, while also giving creators the ability to develop and share their own AI effects.
Meta demonstrated the technology through a range of image-editing capabilities.
This included changing elements within photographs and creating new visual effects using text prompts.
The Pixel effect adds a practical dimension to those creative tools.
Users can employ it when a photograph contains someone whose identity they do not want to reveal, such as people appearing in the background of an event or individuals who have not consented to having their faces publicly displayed.
The development reflects the growing role of AI in social-media platforms, with Instagram increasingly allowing users to make sophisticated edits through simple instructions.
Meta's expansion of AI tools follows the launch of Muse Image, which the company describes as an image-generation and editing model designed to respond to conversational prompts.
The technology is being incorporated into Meta's products as the company expands AI-assisted creation across its platforms.