Why some artists are abandoning Instagram in favor of this new app

Artists are abandoning Instagram in droves as they protest Meta’s use of publicly posted art to train its AI models. This growing discontent among creators has sparked a shift towards alternative platforms like Cara, a free portfolio app that prohibits AI-generated art and prioritizes authentic creativity.

The backlash against Meta began when a company executive announced that public Instagram posts would be used as part of their AI training data. European users were then notified that their content would be used for AI training without the option to opt out. This move left artists feeling trapped, as they rely on Meta’s platforms for exposure but fear their work being used to potentially replace them.

In response to these concerns, many artists are turning to Cara, which offers an Instagram-like interface but with a focus on showcasing and sharing visual art without the use of generative AI images. Unlike Instagram, Cara filters out AI-generated content and is committed to ethical data privacy practices.

“We do not agree with generative AI tools in their current unethical form, and we won’t host AI-generated portfolios unless the rampant ethical and data privacy issues around datasets are resolved via regulation,” reads Cara’s website.

As artists seek out alternatives to Instagram, platforms like Cara are gaining popularity for their commitment to supporting authentic creativity and protecting artists’ work from being exploited for AI training purposes. This shift highlights the growing tension between creators and tech companies over the use of publicly posted content for AI development.