Instagram May Be Quietly Adding AI-Generated Captions to Your Posts.

Few of us have any illusions about owning the content we post on Instagram, but we can influence how that content is presented—we can choose which photos and videos we post, what captions appear (or don’t appear) in each post, and even specify where the image was taken or posted. We may not control the platform, but we do control the content of our posts—unless those posts are found on search engines like Google.

As 404 Media reports , Instagram appears to be experimenting with AI-generated SEO headlines for users’ posts—without their input or permission. Take this post, for example : author Jeff VanderMeer uploaded a short video of rabbits eating a banana to his Instagram account. The video was published as is: without a caption, geotag, or any other publicly available information. It’s just a couple of rabbits nibbling on a banana.

However, Instagram decided to add a caption to the post—at least if you stumble upon it via Google. Instead of a link with Jeff’s Instagram handle and video metadata, a Google search returns the following headline: “Meet the bunny who loves eating bananas—a nutritious snack for…” (the headline breaks off there).

VanderMeer was extremely unhappy with this discovery. He posted a screenshot of the headline on the website Bluesky , writing, “Now [Instagram] seems to be generating headlines using AI for things I post… to create [clickbait] for [Google], wtf, I don’t like it.”

This wasn’t the only AI-generated headline VanderMeer landed in. This post from the Groton Public Library in Massachusetts, promoting VanderMeer’s novel Annihilation as the library’s December book club selection, was also subjected to Google’s “clickbait” treatment. Like VanderMeer’s post, the Groton Public Library didn’t include any text in its Instagram post—only an image showcasing the book. But if you see this post in Google search results, you’ll see the following snippet of the headline: “Join Jeff VanderMeer on a thrilling beach adventure with Mesta…”

Emanuel Mayberg of 404 Media claims to have confirmed that Instagram also generates captions for other users of the platform, without their permission or knowledge. Meta did not respond to 404 Media’s request for comment. (I also reached out for comment.) Google, on the other hand, responded to 404 Media’s reports and confirmed that the captions are not generated by its own AI generators —even though the company uses its own misleading AI-generated captions in Google Discover . In fact, the company claims its search engine simply pulls text from Instagram itself. Mayberg found that these captions do indeed appear under the caption tags for Instagram posts when using Google’s Rich Result Test tool . By examining the code, Mayberg also discovered AI-generated descriptions for each post, which Instagram may be using to generate the captions.

Why does Instagram use artificial intelligence to generate captions for posts?

I’ll update this post if I hear back from Instagram regarding these AI-generated captions. Until then, I can only speculate about their purpose (assuming Instagram is generating these captions). The most likely reason is to increase engagement: Instagram likely wants to increase the visibility of its users’ posts in search, which means Google has more information to work with. If the user doesn’t provide their own image data, Instagram’s AI appears to fill in the gaps by first generating a description and then adding an “attractive” caption to it.

The results, however, aren’t particularly impressive. Just because Meta AI can generate captions doesn’t mean it’s good at it, or even that it should—especially if users haven’t consented to it in the first place. It would be one thing if Instagram had a pre-post option like “Generate a caption for me using Meta AI that will show up in search results for my post.” Most of us would decline that, but at least it would be an option. However, Instagram seems to have decided that users like VanderMeer aren’t capable of writing a witty caption like “Meet the bunny who loves eating bananas.”

Worst of all, the AI ​​doesn’t even accurately describe posts. A post about the Groton Public Library was simply about a book club meeting about VanderMeer’s novel, but the headline reads, “Join Jeff VanderMeer,” as if he were actually supposed to appear. Instagram not only added the headline without VanderMeer’s consent, but also spread misinformation about his whereabouts. And for what? To get more attention from Google?

If Instagram wants its posts to appear in search engine headlines, it needs to include the creators themselves in the discussion. As VanderMeer told 404 Media, “If I publish content, I want to explain the context myself, not someone else.”

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