TikTok is introducing a fresh option that allows them to lessen the quantity of AI-created content appearing in their streams. This move comes as the service revealed that it presently contains more than 1 bn AI-generated clips.
Trial and Implementation
This change is undergoing trials over the following weeks before a full-scale rollout. This shift aligns with a rise in content created by AI, driven by emerging AI video creators.
The Broader AI Trend
Studies have shown that approximately 10% of the most rapidly expanding video streams on a competing service exclusively feature AI-generated videos. A significant portion of this material is classified as low-quality AI content, a phrase for substandard, factory-style content that is often absurd or bizarre.
“We know from our community that a lot of users appreciate content made with AI tools, ranging from digital art to science explainers, and we aim to offer the community the power to adjust the amount of that, based on their own choices,” said a platform representative.
Scale of AI Content
TikTok announced that there are presently over a billion videos on its service identified as artificially created. In total, in excess of 100 m media items are added to the service each day, making AI content a limited part of its overall inventory.
How to Adjust Settings
Users will be able to limit or boost the volume of AI-generated videos they view by opening the topic control feature in the app and choosing the AI content topic. Further subjects that can already be controlled under the tool include current affairs, clothing, aesthetics, and dance.
Platform Guidelines
TikTok’s guidelines mandate content makers to label “realistic” AI-made content, and it forbids harmful fake videos of public figures or emergencies. Any authentic-looking AI-generated clip that is without a tag can be removed under its terms of service.
Additionally, the platform will from now on attach an artificially created label to content made using its own AI tools, or flagged by an cross-platform project for identifying content made by AI. This measure is intended to help prevent users from trying to circumvent the tagging system.
Educational Initiatives
The company is also launching a $2m educational fund for specialists and organizations to develop educational content about responsible artificial intelligence. This program will assist charitable organizations focused on teaching coding and technology.
Moderation Strategy
The platform has justified its content review process, amid debate over plans to lay off a large number of safety staff in Britain. It is expected to cut a significant number of roles in its trust and safety team in the UK capital, with worker representatives and internet security professionals expressing worry that people are being substituted by automated systems.
A senior executive clarified that staff-based oversight would still have a role, but AI can shield workers by removing the most graphic content ahead of it gets reviewed by staff. TikTok reported a notable drop in disturbing and violent content reviewed by safety staff over the last 12 months due to reliance on its AI tools.
“We think that it’s essential to balance humans and technology to ensure user safety,” the executive stated. “We’ll have humans as integral to the approach, but we further consider it’s extremely critical to reduce exposure to dangerous material as swiftly, which is where a significant AI assistance is really helping us process content quickly.”
