Instagram adds an AI assistant for creators, with heavy use behind a paywall

Instagram announced that its standalone Edits app now includes an AI "creative assistant" that reads an account's likes, views, retention and shares, and answers questions about what is trending, how to hook viewers and which audio to use.

According to The Verge, the feature was announced September 30 and is free for creators up to a point; "power users" will need a Meta One subscription for more usage. Meta needs new revenue to fund its AI ambitions, and paid analytics may become the norm.

Platforms historically limited or hid performance data; now they are directly instructing everyone how to optimize. Whether content grows more similar when every creator follows the same advice is the open question this shift leaves behind.