TikTok is introducing a new feature that enables them to reduce the volume of artificial intelligence-produced videos appearing in their feeds. This move comes as the company revealed that it currently hosts more than 1 thousand million content made with AI.
Trial and Implementation
This change is undergoing trials over the coming weeks before a global release. This advancement aligns with a surge in AI content, spurred by recent content generation software.
AI Content on Other Platforms
Studies have shown that approximately a tenth of the most rapidly expanding channels on another major platform only show AI-generated videos. A significant portion of this content is deemed “AI slop”, a term for substandard, factory-style content that is frequently nonsensical or bizarre.
“We know from our community that numerous viewers enjoy content created using AI tools, ranging from computer-generated images to science explainers, and we intend to give people the power to adjust the amount of that, based on their own preferences,” said a company executive.
AI on the Platform
TikTok disclosed that there are currently 1.3bn videos on its app identified as AI-generated. Collectively, more than 100 million media items are added to the app each day, making clips made by AI a relatively small portion of its overall inventory.
Customizing Your Feed
Members will be in a position to decrease or raise the volume of AI content they view by using the content preference option in the platform and choosing the AI content topic. Additional categories that can already be modified under the filter cover news, clothing, aesthetics, and movement.
Content Labeling and Policies
TikTok’s rules require creators to label “realistic” AI-generated content, and it prohibits harmful AI impersonations of well-known individuals or emergencies. Any realistic AI-generated clip that is not labeled can be removed under its user guidelines.
In addition, the platform will henceforth attach an “AI-made” tag to content made using its proprietary AI systems, or identified by an industry-wide initiative for spotting content made by AI. This measure is intended to help prevent users from trying to evade the tagging system.
AI Literacy Programs
TikTok is additionally establishing a $2m educational fund for experts and institutions to produce informative material about ethical AI use. This initiative will support non-profit groups specializing in training coding and technology.
Content Safety Approach
The video-sharing app has supported its safety measures, amid controversy over plans to make redundant hundreds of content moderators in the UK. The company is set to eliminate 439 jobs in its trust and safety department in its British office, with worker representatives and internet security professionals raising concerns that people are being substituted by automated systems.
A trust and safety lead clarified that staff-based oversight would still have a role, but artificial intelligence can shield workers by eliminating the most harmful content before it is viewed by humans. The platform reported a significant reduction in explicit and harmful content reviewed by safety staff over the last 12 months due to intervention by its AI tools.
“We think that it’s essential to combine humans and technology to maintain a secure environment,” the official commented. “We’ll have humans as part of that process, but we further consider it’s very important to limit contact with dangerous material as rapidly, which is why a significant AI assistance is proving valuable operate efficiently.”
