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TikTok is introducing a new feature that enables them to lessen the volume of AI-made media appearing in their timelines. This initiative comes as the platform revealed that it presently contains in excess of 1 bn content made with AI.

Trial and Implementation

The update is undergoing trials over the coming weeks before a widespread release. This shift comes amid a surge in AI content, driven by new content generation software.

AI Proliferation Online

It has been noted that approximately a tenth of the fastest-growing channels on a popular video site only show clips produced artificially. A significant portion of this output is deemed low-quality AI content, a term for inferior, mass-produced content that is often nonsensical or surreal.

“We know from our community that numerous viewers enjoy content created using AI tools, from AI artwork to informative clips, and we want to provide users the option to see more or less of that, depending on their own choices,” commented a company executive.

AI on the Platform

TikTok announced that there are now 1.3bn videos on its app identified as artificially created. Overall, over 100 million pieces of content are added to the service daily, making AI content a minor percentage of its overall inventory.

Customizing Your Feed

Viewers will be in a position to limit or boost the amount of AI-generated videos they see by accessing the content preference feature in the app and selecting “AI-generated content”. Additional categories that can already be adjusted under the setting encompass current affairs, clothing, cosmetics, and movement.

Content Labeling and Policies

TikTok’s rules oblige users to identify lifelike AI-generated content, and it bans malicious deepfakes of public figures or emergencies. Any realistic artificial content that is not labeled can be taken down under its community policies.

Additionally, the platform will now attach an AI-generated watermark to content produced via its built-in AI features, or identified by an industry-wide initiative for spotting artificial media. This step is designed to help prevent users from seeking to circumvent the tagging system.

Educational Initiatives

TikTok is also introducing a $2m AI literacy fund for professionals and organizations to create informative material about responsible artificial intelligence. This initiative will support educational bodies dedicated to educating programming and robotics.

Content Safety Approach

The platform has supported its content review process, amid debate over plans to make redundant hundreds of review team members in Britain. It is planning to cut a significant number of roles in its user protection team in its British office, with labor groups and digital protection specialists raising concerns that staff are being displaced by AI moderation.

A company official stated that staff-based oversight would remain essential, but AI can safeguard staff by filtering out the most harmful content before it has to be seen by staff. TikTok reported a notable drop in explicit and harmful content reviewed by safety staff over the last 12 months due to the use of its AI tools.

It is vital to integrate people and machines to keep the platform safe,” the official commented. “We’ll have people as integral to the approach, but we additionally believe it’s highly necessary to reduce exposure to unsafe media as swiftly, which is the area in which a lot of the machine support is proving valuable process content quickly.”