Church needs to prepare for ‘impersonation problem’ of AI fakes

Meta’s decision to pull a new AI tool that allowed users to generate images from public Instagram accounts has raised larger questions about emergent AI tech and its impact on ethics and human dignity.

It all started on July 7, when Meta launched its Muse Image feature, which uses existing photos as input and lets users edit generated images directly through sketches.

Marking the first fully-integrated image-generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, Muse Image quickly faced backlash from both Hollywood’s largest talent agency, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and its largest performers’ union, SAG-AFTRA, over privacy concerns and the feature’s automatic opt-in for public Instagram accounts.

The industry’s largest actors union also shared tips on how to adjust settings on Instagram for members to opt-out of the Muse Image tool and to “take action to protect your likeness” in a SAG-AFTRA statement on July 9. CAA similarly pressed Meta to reverse course, later saying, “We commend Meta for its swift decision to remove the Muse Image feature. Putting individual rights and consent at the forefront is essential to building responsible technology.”

The backlash spread quickly online: a video from content creator Barrett Pall explaining how users could opt out drew more than 1.5 million views on Instagram Reels, while Emmy-nominated actress Hannah Einbinder also publicly criticized the tool on social media.

Just three days after launch, on July 10, Meta announced it would discontinue the @-mention feature on Instagram specifically, though Muse Image itself remains available within the Meta AI app and WhatsApp.

“Earlier this week, we announced that one way for people to generate images in Meta AI is by @-mentioning public Instagram accounts that they want to reference,” the company said in a statement. “Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way. We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available.”

So what does all this mean for social media users beyond Hollywood?

Bryce Allison, chief technology officer at the American Bible Society, says he has seen AI deliver clear benefits, including breaking down language barriers to advance the organization’s mission of making the Bible accessible to every individual. Rather than framing AI as simply good or bad, he focuses on using it in ways that strengthen trust, uphold human dignity, and serve people without replacing the relationships, wisdom and discernment that remain uniquely human.

For Allison, the Meta episode itself points to a deeper issue. “When someone’s likeness is used without their knowledge or consent, we risk treating a person made in God’s image as raw material rather than someone with inherent dignity,” he said. 

For Allison, the Meta episode itself points to a deeper issue. “When someone’s likeness is used without their knowledge or consent, we risk treating a person made in God’s image as raw material rather than someone with inherent dignity,” he said. 

That distinction matters, he added, not only for Christians in the pews but for anyone navigating an AI-driven world, especially those in ministry.

“First, most people are spending far more time inside algorithmically curated feeds than inside any church’s teaching, and those systems optimize for engagement, which is not the same thing as maturity,” he said.

Warning that the “impersonation problem is already here, not coming,” Allison urged pastors around the country to address their own congregations about AI-generated videos soliciting donations in their name. 

“The fakes don’t even have to be good to work,” he said. “Every ministry needs an answer to ‘How would our people know this is really from us?’ and the time to work that out is before it happens.”

Asked how ministries should educate staff and integrate AI training, Allison shared lessons from the American Bible Society’s own experience. “Start with data. That’s where harm arrives first and where the gap between intuition and reality is widest. Ministry staff handle pastoral conversations, counseling notes, benevolence requests and donor records. Almost nobody’s instinct tells them that pasting any of that into a consumer chatbot is a confidentiality breach. Say it explicitly before anything else,” he added.