TikTok is introducing a fresh option that enables them to reduce the amount of AI-created media appearing in their feeds. This move comes as the service disclosed that it currently hosts in excess of 1 bn content made with AI.
Pilot Phase and Launch
The update is being tested over the coming weeks before a full-scale launch. This shift aligns with a increase in AI content, spurred by new video-generation tools.
AI Proliferation Online
Studies have shown that nearly 10% of the quickest rising video streams on another major platform primarily display AI-generated videos. A considerable share of this material is classified as “AI slop”, a phrase for inferior, bulk-generated content that is frequently illogical or surreal.
“We know from our community that a lot of users like content made with AI tools, ranging from computer-generated images to educational videos, and we want to give people the option to see more or less of that, based on their own choices,” stated a platform representative.
Scale of AI Content
The service shared that there are presently 1.3bn videos on its app identified as made with AI. Overall, in excess of 100 m media items are uploaded to the platform daily, making AI content a relatively small portion of its total content library.
User Control Features
Viewers will be in a position to reduce or increase the level of AI content they see by accessing the topic control feature in the app and choosing the AI content topic. Further subjects that currently be modified under the setting cover politics, clothing, beauty, and choreography.
Platform Guidelines
TikTok’s guidelines oblige creators to identify convincing AI-generated content, and it forbids harmful AI impersonations of public figures or crisis events. Any realistic AI video that is without a tag can be taken down under its community policies.
Furthermore, the app will now add an “AI-made” watermark to content produced via its own AI tools, or flagged by an industry-wide initiative for spotting content made by AI. This action is aimed to deter users from seeking to circumvent the disclosure requirement.
Educational Initiatives
The company is additionally launching a two million dollar educational fund for specialists and groups to develop educational content about using AI responsibly. This initiative will assist charitable organizations dedicated to educating programming and robotics.
Platform Protection
The platform has supported its safety measures, during debate over plans to cut jobs for numerous safety staff in the UK. TikTok is expected to cut 439 jobs in its content moderation department in London, with labor groups and online safety experts expressing worry that staff are being displaced by AI moderation.
A senior executive explained that human moderation would remain essential, but automated tools can protect employees by eliminating the most harmful content ahead of it has to be seen by staff. The platform reported a significant reduction in disturbing and violent content handled by human moderators over the previous year due to the use of its machine learning processes.
It is vital to balance staff and AI to keep the platform safe,” the official commented. “We’ll have staff as part of that process, but we also think it’s extremely critical to reduce exposure to unsafe media as quickly as possible, which is why a significant AI assistance is proving valuable work at speed.”
