In a stark year-end message, Instagram's top executive, Adam Mosseri, has declared that the explosive rise of artificial intelligence has effectively 'killed' traditional creativity and originality in online content. He warned that this surge threatens to completely erase the boundary between what is real and what is fabricated.
The Death of the Polished Feed and the Rise of Raw Reality
In a detailed 20-slide note closing out 2025, Mosseri stated that the era of Instagram as a feed of perfect, square photos is long gone. That carefully curated feed of polished makeup, smooth skin, and beautiful landscapes is 'dead.' He revealed that people stopped sharing personal moments in their feeds years ago.
Today, the primary way users share is through direct messages (DMs), filled with blurry photos, shaky videos of daily life, casual shoe shots, and unflattering candid moments. Mosseri pointed out that this raw, imperfect aesthetic has now bled into public content and across art forms. He argued that in a world where AI can generate flawless imagery, perfection has become cheap and boring, while imperfection has become a valuable signal of reality.
Authenticity as a Scarce Resource in an AI-Flooded World
Mosseri identified a major shift for 2026: authenticity is becoming infinitely reproducible. With deepfakes improving and AI generating media indistinguishable from real captures, the unique traits that made creators matter—being real, connecting, having an unfakeable voice—are now accessible to anyone with the right tools.
He admitted that while people complain about 'AI slop,' there is also a lot of amazing AI content. However, he noted that even quality AI content often has a tell-tale look—being too slick, with skin too smooth. He predicts this will change, leading to more realistic AI content. Consequently, human authenticity is becoming a scarce and highly demanded resource. The bar is shifting from 'can you create?' to 'can you make something that only you could create?'
Platforms Must Adapt: Label, Verify, and Prioritize Human Originality
The Instagram head outlined critical steps platforms must take. He emphasized that instead of shunning AI tools, the industry needs more of them, but with robust safeguards. His key recommendations include:
- Rigorously tagging AI-generated media to inform users.
- Developing systems to verify authentic, human-captured content, potentially through cryptographic signing by camera manufacturers at the point of capture.
- Adjusting algorithms to prioritize human-made 'originality' over synthetic polish.
- Surfacing more context about the accounts sharing content so users can judge who is behind it.
Mosseri conceded that platforms will get worse at identifying AI content over time as the technology advances. Therefore, he believes it will be more practical to 'fingerprint' real media than to chase fake media. He called for a societal shift from assuming content is real by default to starting with healthy skepticism, focusing on who is sharing something and why.
In conclusion, Mosseri stated that Instagram must evolve quickly. He believes that in a world of infinite abundance and doubt, the creators who maintain trust by being real, transparent, and consistent will ultimately stand out. The core mission for platforms like his is to build the best creative tools while fiercely protecting and promoting signals of human authenticity.
