Instagram Experiments With AI-Generated Comments—Why Though?
I seriously can’t wrap my head around why anyone would want this. And yet, here we are.
Instagram is testing AI-generated comments, meaning you no longer have to come up with an opinion, an original thought, or even the most basic human reaction to a post. Instead, Meta’s AI will do it for you.
Here’s how it works:
As spotted by app researcher Jonah Manzano, some users are seeing a little “pencil with a star” icon next to the comment box. Tap it, and boom—Instagram serves up a selection of AI-generated responses for you to choose from.
No effort required. No thinking necessary. Just tap, post, and move on.
The Big Question: Why?
Meta’s been pushing AI hard lately, and this is just the next step. They’ve already introduced AI chatbots with personalities, and now they’re working on AI-generated profiles that engage with content as if they were real people.
In theory, this could create more engagement on posts. Imagine an AI bot commenting on your content the second you post—maybe that makes other real users jump in and interact too? More engagement = more dopamine = more people sticking around on the app.
From Meta’s perspective, it makes sense. More activity, more interaction (even if it’s fake), and more time spent on the platform.
But from a user perspective? That’s where things get weird.
Does This Make Social Media… Less Social?
We’ve already seen AI-generated responses roll out in places like LinkedIn and Gmail. But those are business and email settings. Instagram is supposed to be social. Authentic. Human.
So, if bots are commenting on our posts and people are using AI-generated responses to reply… who’s actually talking to each other?
The Future of Fake Engagement
The uncomfortable truth? This will probably work.
Most users won’t overthink it. If their post gets 50 AI-generated comments, they’ll still feel that little rush of validation. People crave engagement, and if AI can provide it, Meta knows they’ll stick around.
But is this really what we want? A social media feed full of generic, auto-generated nothingness?
Maybe I’m just resisting the inevitable, and this is where we’re headed—AI bots filling the gaps of human interaction to keep platforms feeling alive. Maybe people won’t care. Maybe this is just the new normal.
But personally? I’d rather know that when someone comments on my post, it’s actually them—not an algorithm-generated response meant to keep me scrolling.
What do you think? Or are you just gonna let AI answer for you?
Hey there I’m Kylie Simao, owner of a boutique social media marketing agency dedicated to helping new, local and small businesses who want to promote themselves online using social media.