With the development of AI-based tools and their availability to the general public, generating content has never been easier. But faced with "deepfakes" and other types of AI-generated content, some social networks have decided to take action. On TikTok, a new tool will enable such content to be tagged in the aim of making viewers aware of how it was created.

Back at the start of 2021, "deepfakes" of Tom Cruise caused a sensation on TikTok. A deepfake manipulates a person's voice and physique with deep generative methods. Often impressively realistic, such content can lead to confusion on social networks if users don't understand that it's not the real actor or public figure in question. Indeed, up until now the creators of such content were under no obligation to notify users of the use of AI in their content.

But that's no longer the case. TikTok has just launched a new label that will flag videos generated by artificial intelligence. Content creators are invited to "apply it to any content that has been completely generated or significantly edited by AI," as TikTok explains in the official announcement.

This new feature will help creators comply with the synthetic media policy introduced into the platform's guidelines in March. "This policy requires people to label AI-generated content that contains realistic images, audio or video in order, to help viewers contextualize the video and prevent the potential spread of misleading content. Creators can now do this through the new label (or other types of disclosures, like a sticker or caption)." Should a creator fail to comply with this new rule, they risk having their content removed from the app.

But while the platform leaves it up to creators to add the tag themselves, the Chinese giant has nonetheless been working on a way to automatically recognize such content. "This week, we will begin testing an 'AI-generated' label that we eventually plan to apply automatically to content that we detect was edited or created with AI. To drive more clarity around AI-powered TikTok products, we are also renaming TikTok AI effects to explicitly include 'AI' in their name and corresponding effects label, and updated our guidelines for Effect House creators to do the same," says the social network.

The Meta group is also working on a feature to alert viewers to the fact that content has been generated by AI. And other platforms will likely follow suit.

These new features are not only being rolled out as part of the social networks' strategy to counter deepfakes, but also their obligation to comply with Europe's Digital Services Act. Since August 25, this European regulation on digital services has made it mandatory for sites and tech players to identify such AI-generated content in the interests of transparency.

In June, the European Parliament adopted legislation to regulate the use of artificial intelligence. The "AI Act" is set to be finalized by the end of the year, following discussions and negotiations between the Parliament, the Commission and the Council of the European Union. Artificial intelligence is also at the heart of interim regulation in China, referred to as Generative AI Measures. In Washington, discussions are also underway to determine how to regulate these new internet technologies in the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election.

 - AFP Relaxnews