Pinterest Adds Controls to Reduce AI Content in Feeds

Pinterest is rolling out some new options that will give users more control over the AI-generated Pins they see in-stream, as it looks to combat the influx of AI content, which some users say has become overwhelming, and has negatively impacted their in-app experience.

As you can see in these example screens, Pinterest is adding a new “GenAI interests” element to its recommendation settings, which will enable users to indicate that they don’t want to see generative AI pins in specific categories.

So if you’re sick of seeing clearly AI images in your home décor searches, now, you’ll be able to switch them off, or at least, remove them from view when Pinterest’s system can determine that they’ve been AI-generated.

As explained by Pinterest:

“Generative AI content is rapidly transforming the internet, now making up an incredible 57% of all online material. At Pinterest, we’ve heard from our users: they want the creativity and inspiration they love, with the right balance of human and AI-generated content. That’s why we’re leading the way in giving users more control over their experience, launching new controls that allow users to decide exactly how much GenAI content appears in their feed.”

And hopefully this is a good solution, though I would note that Pinterest is only saying that these options will reduce the amount of AI-generated content that users will see, it won’t eliminate AI results entirely, even when you do toggle each topic element on.

The challenge comes in identifying AI content, and ensuring that it doesn’t get shown as a result. Pinterest has already added AI tags, which enable users to self-report such, and it’s developing systems that can identify AI-generated images based on image data markers.

But this isn’t perfect. If someone, for example, creates an AI image, then screenshots it, those markers would be removed, and if that’s then submitted as a Pin, I suspect Pinterest won’t be able to pick them out.

But Pinterest is acknowledging that this is a problem, and after months of user complaints, it is adding more tools and options to tackle the issue, and root out misleading AI Pins.

It just comes down to how effective this is, and how much Pinterest, or indeed any platform, can actually identify and combat AI content, as it becomes a bigger element in online engagement.

Which is also why it’s confusing that so many apps are pushing their own generative AI elements, prompting people to create images of themselves in fantastical scenes and depictions, that bear no resemblance to any kind of reality.

Pinterest’s experience thus far would suggest that people don’t actually want this type of AI slop to take over, so why are we being prompted to add more of this junk to the content mix?

Maybe it’s inevitable, but it seems that accepting it is still different from actively encouraging the same.

But accepting the fact that generative AI content is here to stay, the best the platforms can do is work to better identify it, then offer options to remove it from view, if people choose.

Pinterest says that its AI settings are now available on Android and desktop, and will be expanded to iOS “over the following weeks.”