Instagram has introduced an AI "creative assistant" within its Edits app that analyses user account data and provides feedback on post performance. This marks a significant shift in how platforms handle transparency about content metrics, as Instagram and YouTube now actively guide creators on how to optimise for engagement, reversing a long history of limiting access to detailed performance data.

The AI assistant enables creators to ask open-ended questions about trending content, why specific posts performed well, and what resonated with their audience, drawing on metrics including likes, views, retention rates, and shares. Whilst the tool is free with basic usage, Meta plans to charge "power users" through a Meta One subscription for additional access, mirroring YouTube's recent AI-powered analytics dashboard update and raising questions about whether premium AI insights could become paywalled, potentially recreating the opacity that has frustrated creators historically.