TikTok is introducing a new feature that allows them to lessen the volume of AI-made videos appearing in their timelines. This move comes as the platform disclosed that it now features in excess of 1 bn AI videos.
Trial and Implementation
The new functionality is in a pilot phase over the coming weeks before a full-scale release. This shift aligns with a increase in AI content, fueled by new AI video creators.
AI Proliferation Online
Studies have shown that approximately a tenth of the quickest rising video streams on a popular video site primarily display AI-generated videos. A large amount of this material is classified as mass-produced AI material, a phrase for poor-quality, factory-style content that is typically illogical or surreal.
Our research shows that a lot of users enjoy content made with AI tools, from digital art to informative clips, and we aim to give people the ability to adjust the amount of that, according to their own likes,” commented a spokesperson.
Volume and Proportions
TikTok shared that there are now 1.3bn videos on its service tagged as made with AI. In total, over 100 mn pieces of content are submitted to the platform daily, making AI content a relatively small part of its total content library.
User Control Features
Users will be able to reduce or increase the volume of AI-generated videos they watch by accessing the “manage topic” option in the app and picking AI-made media. Additional categories that currently be adjusted under the tool cover politics, clothing, beauty, and movement.
AI Disclosure Rules
Its policies require content makers to label “realistic” artificially created content, and it forbids malicious deepfakes of celebrities or crisis events. Any realistic AI video that is without a tag can be removed under its user guidelines.
Furthermore, the platform will henceforth add an artificially created watermark to content produced via its built-in AI features, or flagged by an collaborative effort for identifying artificial media. This measure is aimed to stop users from trying to bypass the tagging system.
Educational Initiatives
The company is additionally establishing a $2m AI literacy fund for professionals and groups to develop informative material about responsible artificial intelligence. This initiative will assist charitable organizations dedicated to teaching coding and technology.
Content Safety Approach
TikTok has supported its safety measures, following controversy over intentions to lay off a large number of content moderators in the UK. The company is expected to cut hundreds of positions in its content moderation team in the UK capital, with worker representatives and digital protection specialists raising concerns that humans are being replaced by automated systems.
A senior executive stated that people-led review would still have a role, but AI can shield workers by filtering out the most harmful content before it gets reviewed by staff. The platform reported a notable drop in explicit and harmful content seen by content reviewers over the previous year due to intervention by its AI tools.
“We think that it’s essential to integrate people and machines to keep the platform safe,” the executive stated. “We’ll have humans as part of that process, but we further consider it’s highly necessary to reduce exposure to harmful content as quickly as possible, which is why a lot of the machine support is making a difference work at speed.”
