Instagram AI is Meta AI inside the Instagram app. You can chat with it, call it into a conversation by typing @Meta AI, have it rewrite a message or write a Story caption, and, with a professional account, build an AI that answers messages for you. Instagram says many of these features are not available to everyone yet.

What is Instagram AI?

Instagram AI is a set of features powered by Meta AI that sit in chats, search, Stories, Reels and the professional dashboard. There is no single AI button. Each feature has its own Help Center page, its own rules and its own rollout, so you may see some and not others. Instagram's pages recommend installing the latest version of the app.

Everything below comes from Instagram's Help Center, read on 13 October 2026. Menu paths are the iPhone ones, and Android or computer pages can word them differently.

How do I use Meta AI on Instagram?

You can reach Meta AI in three places, according to Instagram's page on using it:

  1. Start a chat of your own. Tap Messages, tap Compose in the top right, tap Meta AI under Suggested, then type a message or tap a suggested prompt.
  2. Bring it into a chat with other people. In an existing conversation, tap Message..., type @, tap Meta AI, then enter your question. Your question and Meta AI's reply are sent as messages, so everyone in the chat sees both.
  3. Use search. Go to Explore or your inbox, tap the search bar, then type a question or tap a suggested prompt. Meta AI answers in a chat where you can keep going.

Two extras. Typing /imagine and a description in a chat with Meta AI makes an image, and /imagine yourself makes an AI image of you. For voice, open a chat with Meta AI or start from search, then tap the voice button in the text box. Instagram says voice conversations are currently only available in English.

Instagram also runs a separate Meta AI support assistant for account problems. Open your profile, tap Menu, scroll to More info and support and tap it.

What does Meta AI on Instagram do in chats?

Meta AI on Instagram can answer questions, rewrite your messages, summarize chats and work with images. Instagram's pages describe five jobs:

  • Answers and advice. Ask for suggestions, such as dinner ideas in a group chat, by replying with @Meta AI.
  • Writing help. In a conversation, type your message, tap Edit with Meta AI, then describe the change, such as a different tone or length. Tap Apply to send it. You can edit AI text before sending.
  • Summaries. Tap and hold a conversation with unread messages in your inbox, then tap Summarize with AI. Others in the chat are notified when you do.
  • Images. Meta AI can generate images with /imagine, edit an image in a chat, and answer questions about an image you share.
  • AI chats. From Compose, tap AI chats to talk with Meta AI or with custom AIs that other people built.

Which AI features does Instagram have for Stories and Reels?

Instagram's Help Center describes six AI tools for making Stories and Reels, each with its own page:

  • Captions. After you choose a photo or video for a Story, you type a few words and Meta AI writes caption options. You can pick a tone and ask for new ones.
  • Restyle. Edit a photo or video with a preset or your own prompt. Only videos of 10 seconds or less qualify, and you can restyle up to 5 videos a day.
  • Expand photos. Meta AI fills in the gaps around a photo in Stories, if the image is eligible.
  • AI transition. Select two or more photos and Meta AI builds a video for your Story from them.
  • AI backgrounds. When you reshare a post to your Story, Meta AI offers generated backgrounds.
  • Voice translation on Reels. Instagram can translate your voice and sync your lips in 14 languages, from Spanish and English to Hindi, Korean and Italian. It only works on videos with your original voice, not music or other voices, and translations can take up to 24 hours. You can approve them before they go live.

Some of these ask you to agree to Meta's AI terms the first time you use them. For the creator menus around them, see Instagram creator tools and controls.

Can an AI answer my Instagram messages for me?

Yes, if you have a professional account and Instagram has switched the feature on for you. Meta AI Studio lets you create a creator AI that sounds like you, based on your Instagram content. You then turn on AI auto replies so it answers messages from an audience you choose.

Instagram's pages set these terms:

  • Where. In the Instagram mobile app only. Open your professional dashboard, go to Your tools, tap See All, choose Your AIs, then tap Try It.
  • Who it answers. Anyone you do not follow, followers you do not follow back, or only people you choose. It replies to chats that person starts, including message requests.
  • What it says. You add facts, links and topics to avoid. Replies are marked with AI and your name, and Instagram says they may be inaccurate.
  • Your control. You can reply yourself at any time. The AI pauses while you do, then resumes after a period of time. You can turn auto replies off for one chat or all chats, and delete the creator AI.
  • Language. Instagram says these AIs have only been trained in English, so quality may be lower in other languages.

This is a different job from comment-to-DM automation, where someone comments a keyword and gets a message you wrote in advance. For what Instagram offers without AI, see does Instagram have auto reply.

What happens to what I tell Meta AI?

Meta uses your interactions with its AIs to improve its AI, and Instagram's AI pages say so. The same pages describe four more things to know before you type:

  • Partners. If the AI cannot answer, Meta shares your messages and general information, such as your region, with select partners to get a better result.
  • Personalization. Meta AI uses your location, age, gender and interests to personalize replies. Depending on your region, AI interactions can also personalize content and ads.
  • Group chats. When you or others mention @Meta AI, messages from the past 30 days are used to answer, and others in the chat can see your message to Meta AI and its reply. To keep a message out, delete it or delete the chat.
  • Encryption. Instagram says chats with AIs, including messages that mention the Meta AI assistant and its responses, are not end-to-end encrypted.

Instagram's advice is to be mindful before putting a name, address, email or phone number in a prompt, and not to use an AI answer to make an important decision.

Can I turn off Meta AI on Instagram?

Instagram's Help Center says there is no setting to turn it off fully, but you can delete a chat with it. That answer came from the Help Center's own search assistant on 13 October 2026, and we found no standalone article describing an off switch. Deleting a Meta AI chat is permanent: Instagram says that if you start a new conversation afterwards, your previous messages will no longer be available.

How does Instagram label AI content?

Instagram uses two labels. Creators who regularly post an AI-generated person can add an AI-generated profile label, shown on the profile, in search, beside their content and beside their comments and messages. Instagram says it neither helps nor hurts reach, but accounts it believes are AI-generated and unlabeled may become ineligible for recommendations. The separate AI content label appears on individual posts made or changed with AI tools.

Where this stops working

  • Availability varies. Instagram's pages say many AI features are not available to everyone and arrive gradually. We cannot see which ones your account has.
  • We read, we did not test. Every fact comes from Help Center pages read on 13 October 2026. We did not try each feature in the app, and menu names differ by device.
  • Language limits. Voice conversations are English only, and creator AIs are trained in English.
  • The off switch is a gap. The only statement we found about turning Meta AI off came from the Help Center's AI assistant, which Instagram warns can make mistakes.
  • No prices. None of the pages we read mention a price for these features, so we state none.
  • AI-written replies belong to Instagram here. inDM has no AI-written replies: it sends the message you wrote when someone comments a keyword or replies to a Story, and Instagram's creator AI covers open-ended questions.

Now you can see which Instagram AI features exist, where each one lives and what Meta does with what you type. For the reply you write once and send to everyone who asks, our setup guide for comment-to-DM automation walks through it.

Sources

Instagram's Help Center, read on 13 October 2026: