TikTok is introducing a new feature that enables them to reduce the amount of AI-made media appearing in their timelines. This step comes as the service revealed that it presently contains in excess of 1 thousand million content made with AI.
Pilot Phase and Launch
The update is being tested over the next few weeks before a widespread launch. This development coincides with a increase in AI-generated material, fueled by emerging AI video creators.
AI Content on Other Platforms
Studies have shown that almost one in 10 of the most rapidly expanding channels on a competing service only show AI-generated videos. A large amount of this content is classified as low-quality AI content, a term for inferior, mass-produced content that is often illogical or dreamlike.
“We know from our community that a lot of users like content created using AI tools, including AI artwork to informative clips, and we want to offer the community the option to increase or decrease of that, according to their own likes,” said a platform representative.
Scale of AI Content
TikTok disclosed that there are currently 1.3bn videos on its service identified as artificially created. In total, in excess of 100 million videos are submitted to the platform daily, making AI content a limited percentage of its total content library.
How to Adjust Settings
Users will be able to limit or boost the amount of AI content they watch by accessing the topic control option in the app and picking the AI content topic. Further subjects that are already be controlled under the tool include current affairs, style, aesthetics, and dance.
AI Disclosure Rules
TikTok’s guidelines require content makers to tag “realistic” AI-made content, and it forbids malicious fake videos of celebrities or emergencies. Any realistic AI-generated clip that is not labeled can be deleted under its terms of service.
Furthermore, the platform will henceforth add an “AI-made” watermark to content made using its own AI tools, or identified by an industry-wide initiative for identifying AI-generated material. This action is aimed to help prevent users from seeking to circumvent the labeling process.
Responsible AI Funding
TikTok is also introducing a $2m AI literacy fund for experts and organizations to create learning resources about responsible artificial intelligence. This project will benefit charitable organizations focused on educating coding and technology.
Content Safety Approach
The platform has justified its safety measures, during discussion over proposals to cut jobs for hundreds of safety staff in Britain. It is set to reduce a significant number of roles in its trust and safety department in the UK capital, with worker representatives and digital protection specialists raising concerns that staff are being displaced by automated systems.
A company official explained that human moderation would still have a role, but AI can shield workers by filtering out the most distressing content before it gets reviewed by people. TikTok reported a 76% decrease in explicit and harmful content seen by content reviewers over the past year due to reliance on its AI tools.
We believe it is crucial to balance humans and technology to keep the platform safe,” the official commented. “We’ll have people as part of that process, but we further consider it’s very important to limit contact with harmful content as rapidly, which is why a lot of the machine support is making a difference operate efficiently.”
