Instagram's upcoming AI editing tool can completely change your outfit, background; but not everyone is excited

Imagine editing a video just by typing what you want to see. That’s exactly what Instagram is working on. Next year, the platform will roll out a wild new AI-powered tool that lets you change almost anything in your videos—no fancy editing skills required. Instagram boss Adam Mosseri just gave us a sneak peek, and it’s like nothing we’ve seen before.

In Mosseri’s teaser, the tool did some pretty mind-blowing stuff. It swapped his outfits, changed the background of his videos, and even turned him into a felt puppet. Need a gold chain? Done.

The AI keeps everything looking smooth and natural, even when Mosseri moves quickly. It’s all powered by Meta’s Movie Gen AI, a model designed to make video edits while keeping the person and their movements realistic.

How does it compare?

Meta isn’t the only player in the game. Adobe’s Firefly Video tool is already helping creators edit videos with text commands, and OpenAI’s Sora has been exploring similar features. But Meta says its Movie Gen AI stands out by preserving details like identity and motion better than the competition. The biggest factor remains the reach of the application. Instagram is by far one of the biggest social media apps in the world and the new video editing feature could alter trends in a big way. 

Instagram will be the first platform to use this new AI tool, but there’s no word yet on when Movie Gen AI will roll out more broadly.

Not everyone is excited

If it delivers what Mosseri teased, this feature could totally change how people create videos. It’s perfect for creators who want to bring bold ideas to life without spending hours learning editing software. However, it also ignites doubts in a lot of users. Some of the comments on the video shared by Mosseri show why not everyone is excited about this new feature. 

One user said, "So let me get this straight. You’re enabling us to be less authentic and use illusions to create a fake reality? This is wrong on so many levels."

Another added, "What's interesting about seeing someone set against an AI backdrop of Paris? It's a gimmick like an updated bluescreen. No, thank you." One user flat-out said, "I hate AI".

Whether this new feature excites you or threatens you, it will be a big change on the Instagram platform. As is with most AI tools, Meta will have to tread carefully as the new feature could be misused by malicious actors, leading to more harm than good.