The platform is rolling out a new feature that allows them to cut down on the quantity of AI-made media appearing in their feeds. This initiative comes as the company disclosed that it presently contains in excess of 1 bn AI-generated clips.
Testing and Rollout
The new functionality is undergoing trials over the next few weeks before a full-scale rollout. This shift aligns with a rise in content created by AI, spurred by recent content generation software.
AI Proliferation Online
Studies have shown that nearly 10% of the most rapidly expanding content creators on a competing service only show clips produced artificially. A considerable share of this content is considered low-quality AI content, a term for inferior, mass-produced content that is typically absurd or surreal.
“We know from our community that numerous viewers appreciate content made with AI tools, including digital art to educational videos, and we aim to offer the community the option to adjust the amount of that, based on their own choices,” said a company executive.
Scale of AI Content
TikTok announced that there are now 1.3 billion videos on its service identified as made with AI. Overall, more than 100 m pieces of content are added to the platform each day, making AI-generated material a relatively small portion of its overall inventory.
How to Adjust Settings
Members will be capable of decrease or raise the amount of AI-generated videos they watch by opening the topic control option in the platform and choosing “AI-generated content”. Other topics that are already be modified under the filter encompass politics, clothing, beauty, and choreography.
Content Labeling and Policies
The platform’s policies oblige creators to label “realistic” AI-generated content, and it forbids dangerous AI impersonations of well-known individuals or critical incidents. Any authentic-looking AI video that is unmarked can be removed under its user guidelines.
In addition, the app will henceforth apply an “AI-made” watermark to content made using its own AI tools, or identified by an collaborative effort for spotting AI-generated material. This measure is intended to help prevent users from attempting to evade the labeling process.
Educational Initiatives
TikTok is also introducing a $2 million educational fund for experts and organizations to create learning resources about ethical AI use. This initiative will support charitable organizations focused on educating computer science.
Platform Protection
The video-sharing app has justified its moderation strategy, amid discussion over proposals to cut jobs for hundreds of safety staff in the UK. The company is planning to cut 439 jobs in its trust and safety division in the UK capital, with worker representatives and digital protection specialists voicing alarm that people are being substituted by AI moderation.
A senior executive clarified that staff-based oversight would continue to be important, but artificial intelligence can shield workers by filtering out the most harmful content before it has to be seen by staff. TikTok reported a 76% decrease in shocking and graphic content handled by safety staff over the last 12 months due to intervention by its machine learning processes.
It is vital to balance staff and AI to ensure user safety,” the executive stated. “We’ll have people as part of that process, but we additionally believe it’s extremely critical to limit contact with unsafe media as swiftly, which is where a lot of the machine support is really helping us process content quickly.”
