--- title: "Instagram Will Use AI To Describe Images for Visually Impaired Users" description: "Today, the Facebook-owned Instagram announced that it will use AI to automatically identify the content of images for visually impaired users." date: "2018-11-28" modified: "2018-11-28" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-describe-instagram-posts-visually-impaired" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "facebook" - "instagram" - "the digest" - "visually impaired" --- # Instagram Will Use AI To Describe Images for Visually Impaired Users ![Today, the Facebook-owned Instagram announced that it will use AI to automatically identify the content of images for visually impaired users.]() *\Image: Tag Hartman-Simkins\* ## Post to Text While social media accessibility tools for the visually impaired have [come a long way](), Instagram has been lagging behind. That [doesn't mean]() people with visual impairments have ditched the app. But it did leave a lot to be desired in terms of functionality for the visually impaired — and that might be starting to change. Facebook [has been offering]() an AI tool that can describe photos using object recognition technology since 2016. Today, the Facebook-owned Instagram [announced]() that it will bring that feature to its platform as well. ## AI Reader That description generated by the object recognition feature comes in the form of a "list of items that photos may contain" that will be read out loud to the user, according to Instagram's [blog update](). Instagram also announced a second accessibility feature that will allow users to add "richer descriptions" to photo posts. Currently, visually impaired users have no way to resort to alt text — a written description of online content available widely across the web including sites like Facebook and Twitter — in Instagram. If there's no alt text, Instagram will automatically use the object recognition feature. Users can also add custom alt text to photos they upload. ## A Richer Experience It's great to see Instagram making a primarily visual platform more accessible to the visually impaired. But whether the AI will be able to interpret memes is still unclear. **READ MORE:** [Instagram is now using AI to describe photos for users with visual impairments]() \[The Verge\] **More on accessibility features:** [Smart Glasses Can Convert Text Into Sound for the Visually Impaired]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()