As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms how images and videos are created, Instagram is preparing for a future where seeing may no longer mean believing. Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, has cautioned that the explosion of AI-generated content could fundamentally change how users perceive what they see online, placing authenticity at the heart of the platform’s long-term strategy.

In a reflective year-end post shared on December 31, Mosseri acknowledged that AI tools capable of producing hyper-realistic photos and videos are advancing at unprecedented speed. Technologies such as Google’s Nano Banana and OpenAI’s Sora have already reshaped online trends, while Instagram itself has leaned into the shift with its Edits app to support AI-assisted creation. Yet, Mosseri warned that these same innovations pose deep challenges to trust and originality.

“The key risk Instagram faces is that, as the world changes more quickly, the platform fails to keep up,” Mosseri wrote. “Looking forward to 2026, one major shift: authenticity is becoming infinitely reproducible.”

According to him, AI-generated media represents the most disruptive technological change he has witnessed so far—one that could eclipse previous shifts in how people interact with digital platforms. The long-standing assumption that photos and videos capture real moments is steadily eroding.

“For most of my life, I could safely assume photographs or videos were largely accurate captures of moments that happened. This is clearly no longer the case, and it is going to take us years to adapt,” Mosseri said. “We are going to move from assuming what we see is real by default to starting with scepticism.”

While platforms may still detect AI-generated content today, Mosseri believes this approach will become increasingly unreliable as tools improve. Instead, he foresees a move toward cryptographic signatures embedded at the moment content is captured—allowing real images and videos to be verified, rather than trying to identify fakes after they circulate.

Beyond trust, Mosseri also pointed to a cultural shift in how people use Instagram. The era of the perfectly curated public feed, he suggested, is fading. Personal sharing has largely migrated to direct messages, where content is more spontaneous, imperfect and intimate—often blurry photos, shaky clips and unfiltered moments.

Describing this shift as a “raw aesthetic,” Mosseri argued that overly polished imagery has lost its value. “Flattering imagery is no longer valuable,” he said, calling it “cheap to produce and boring to consume.” In an age where anyone can generate visually flawless content, individuality matters more than technical perfection. The creative bar, he noted, is moving from “can you create?” to “can you make something that only you could create?”

To stay relevant in an AI-saturated world, Instagram plans to evolve quickly. Mosseri outlined priorities such as stronger tools to respond to AI content, clearer labelling, visible credibility signals about who is posting, and improved ranking systems that reward originality.

“We need to build the best reactive tools. Label AI-generated content and verify authentic content. Surface credibility signals about who's posting. Continue to improve ranking for originality,” he said.

As AI reshapes the digital landscape, Instagram’s future, Mosseri suggests, will hinge on restoring trust—by making authenticity not just visible, but valuable again.