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Instagram, AI, and the crisis of authenticity

What's the future of Instagram in a world of endless AI-generated content?

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Sometime last year, Instagram changed its bottom menu bar to the following: Bookended by the home button and the user profile button are now video reels, DMs, and the explore page. The create a new post button, which was formerly here in the center, was moved up to the top of the screen in a far less conspicuous place. These changes felt weird at first, but they were, of course, based on real user data. What people do on Instagram these days is watch reels and then share them with their friends.