Instagram Spotted Working on AI Message Writing Feature; Threads Tests Post Bookmarks

Instagram has been experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) features ever since Meta AI was launched by its parent company. Now, a new leak has surfaced that claims that the social media platform is working on an AI message-writing feature. It is said to allow users to rewrite, paraphrase, and make stylistic changes to their written messages in Instagram direct messages (DM). Meanwhile, Meta's newest social media platform Threads has also begun testing a post saving feature that will bookmark posts for viewing later.

Mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi leaked details about this feature on Thursday on X (formerly known as Twitter). He shared a screenshot where typed text that is selected can be seen with the option Write With AI in a chat box. Answering another user's query on its functionality, Paluzzi said, “It will probably paraphrase your message in different styles, similar to how Google's Magic Compose works.”

While details about the AI message-writing feature are not known — given that a user has to select and highlight the text for the option to show up — it appears that the AI cannot generate messages on its own within the text field. As such, the feature is more like an AI text editor. Similar existing tools offer features such as rewriting, summarising, increasing the length of the text, changing the tonality and style structure, as well as adding more contextual content to it.

It should be noted that Instagram's AI can already generate content through a different process. For that, users have to type “@Meta AI” followed by the message in any chat, and the AI will respond to it. Others in the chat will also be able to see the message. Notably, the company claims that the AI can only read the message where it is tagged, and the rest of the texts will remain private. Similarly, it will not be able to respond to any follow-up queries if it is not tagged. At present, Meta AI, which powers Instagram's AI features, is only available in the US.

Separately, Threads is also testing a new feature. Users will soon be able to bookmark their favourite posts by tapping on the option Save. Instagram head Adam Mosseri, who also overlooks Threads, said in a post that the feature will work similarly to Bookmark on Instagram. There is no announced date for the rollout of this feature, but it is expected to roll out to beta testers and regular users soon.