TikTok will begin tagging AI-created content

MEXICO CITY (AP).- TikTok will begin labeling content created using artificial intelligence (AIGC) when it is uploaded from outside its own platform.

TikTok stressed that its efforts are an attempt to combat the spread of misinformation on its social media platform.

“AI enables incredible creative opportunities, but can confuse or mislead users if they don’t know the content was generated by AI,” the company said in a prepared statement Thursday. “Labeling helps clarify that context, which is why we label AIGC created with TikTok AI effects and have required creators to label realistic AIGC for over a year.”

The move is part of an overall effort by those in the technology industry to provide more safeguards for the use of AI. In February, Meta announced that it was working with industry partners on technical standards that will make it easier to identify images and, eventually, videos and audio generated by artificial intelligence tools. Efforts will include Facebook and Instagram users seeing hashtags on AI-generated images that appear on their social networks.

Google indicated last year that AI tags will come to YouTube and its other platforms.

A push for digital watermarking and labeling of AI-generated content was also part of an executive order that US President Joe Biden signed in October.

TikTok reported that it is partnering with the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity and will use its Content Credentials technology.

The company noted that the technology can attach metadata to content, which it can use to instantly recognize and tag AI-generated content. TikTok explained that use of the capability began Thursday on images and videos and will soon reach audio-only content.

Over the next few months, Content Credentials will be attached to material created on TikTok, which will remain in the content when it is downloaded. This will help identify AI-generated content that is created on TikTok and help people know when, where and how the content was created or edited. Other platforms that adopt Content Credentials will be able to automatically tag you.

TikTok highlighted that it is the first video-sharing platform to put credentials into practice and will join the Adobe-led Content Authenticity Initiative to help drive adoption of credentials within the industry.