TikTok is introducing a fresh option that enables them to lessen the amount of AI-made media appearing in their streams. This initiative comes as the platform revealed that it now features more than 1 bn content made with AI.
Testing and Rollout
This change is undergoing trials over the coming weeks before a widespread rollout. This development comes amid a surge in content created by AI, spurred by recent video-generation tools.
The Broader AI Trend
Studies have shown that almost one in 10 of the most rapidly expanding channels on a competing service primarily display content made by AI. A significant portion of this output is deemed low-quality AI content, a phrase for poor-quality, factory-style content that is often absurd or surreal.
“We know from our community that many people enjoy content made with AI tools, from computer-generated images to informative clips, and we intend to offer the community the ability to see more or less of that, depending on their own preferences,” said a platform representative.
Scale of AI Content
TikTok disclosed that there are now 1.3 billion videos on its app labeled as AI-generated. In total, over 100 mn pieces of content are added to the app every day, making clips made by AI a relatively small portion of its complete catalog.
Customizing Your Feed
Viewers will be in a position to reduce or increase the level of artificial media they watch by opening the “manage topic” feature in the app and selecting “AI-generated content”. Additional categories that are already be adjusted under the tool include politics, style, aesthetics, and movement.
Platform Guidelines
TikTok’s rules mandate users to identify “realistic” artificially created content, and it bans dangerous deepfakes of public figures or emergencies. Any realistic AI video that is unmarked can be removed under its terms of service.
Furthermore, the service will henceforth apply an AI-generated tag to content produced via its proprietary AI systems, or identified by an cross-platform project for spotting AI-generated material. This measure is intended to help prevent users from seeking to circumvent the disclosure requirement.
Responsible AI Funding
TikTok is furthermore launching a $2 million educational fund for professionals and groups to create informative material about using AI responsibly. This program will support charitable organizations dedicated to teaching computer science.
Platform Protection
The platform has justified its content review process, amid controversy over intentions to lay off hundreds of content moderators in Britain. It is planning to cut a significant number of roles in its trust and safety team in its British office, with worker representatives and digital protection specialists raising concerns that humans are being replaced by automated systems.
A company official clarified that staff-based oversight would continue to be important, but automated tools can shield workers by removing the most distressing content ahead of it gets reviewed by humans. TikTok stated a notable drop in explicit and harmful content reviewed by safety staff over the past year due to intervention by its machine learning processes.
“We think that it’s essential to combine people and machines to maintain a secure environment,” the official commented. “We’ll have humans as part of that process, but we also think it’s very important to limit contact with dangerous material as swiftly, which is where a significant AI assistance is proving valuable operate efficiently.”
