Meta is facing backlash over its new AI tool Muse Image, which can generate images using other people’s profile pictures without telling them.

It is one of many publicly available text-to-image conversion tools that, as the name suggests, can create images from a few lines of simple written text.

Muse Image is available through the Meta AI app and web browser, as well as on WhatsApp and Instagram Stories for US users.

While Meta says users can opt out of using their image even with a public account, Donald Campbell, advocacy director at tech justice nonprofit Foxglove, told the BBC it was an “obvious recipe for disaster.”

“We have already seen a catalog of harm caused by non-consensual AI-altered images on social platforms just last year,” he said.

“It’s hard to understand why Mark Zuckerberg thinks making this creepy image manipulation even easier is a good idea.”

The feature is likely to face increased scrutiny as regulators and campaigners raise concerns about AI-generated images, and Ofcom is currently investigating X over Grok’s role in creating and sharing non-consensual images of real people altered by AI.

Privacy International also criticized the feature, telling the BBC it was “the latest sign that AI companies see people’s images and data as raw material to be exploited.”

“Attracting real users to photos generated without explicit consent is a privacy landmine waiting to detonate,” wrote one user on X., external.

Meta said a dedicated setting, separate from account privacy controls, allows users to opt out even if they have a public account.

To do so, users must go to Instagram’s settings menu, select “Share and Reuse,” and turn off “Allow people to reuse your content on Instagram and with AI features in Meta” for posts and reels.

These settings only appear if you have a public account; If your account is private, it can no longer be shared.