TikTok is introducing a fresh option that enables them to cut down on the quantity of AI-created videos appearing in their timelines. This move comes as the company revealed that it currently hosts over 1 billion content made with AI.
Pilot Phase and Launch
The new functionality is in a pilot phase over the coming weeks before a global rollout. This advancement aligns with a rise in AI-generated material, fueled by new content generation software.
AI Content on Other Platforms
Studies have shown that approximately a tenth of the most rapidly expanding video streams on a popular video site exclusively feature clips produced artificially. A significant portion of this content is classified as “AI slop”, a label for substandard, factory-style content that is typically illogical or surreal.
“We know from our community that many people enjoy content created using AI tools, from computer-generated images to science explainers, and we want to provide users the power to adjust the amount of that, depending on their own preferences,” commented a company executive.
AI on the Platform
The platform announced that there are now 1.3 billion videos on its service labeled as artificially created. Collectively, over 100 mn media items are uploaded to the platform each day, making AI content a minor part of its complete catalog.
User Control Features
Viewers will be able to limit or boost the volume of artificial media they view by opening the topic control feature in the platform and choosing AI-made media. Further subjects that can already be modified under the setting cover politics, style, aesthetics, and dance.
AI Disclosure Rules
TikTok’s guidelines mandate creators to identify convincing artificially created content, and it bans dangerous AI impersonations of public figures or critical incidents. Any realistic artificial content that is unmarked can be deleted under its community policies.
Additionally, the platform will henceforth apply an artificially created watermark to content made using its own AI tools, or identified by an industry-wide initiative for spotting artificial media. This step is aimed to help prevent users from seeking to circumvent the labeling process.
Responsible AI Funding
The platform is also introducing a $2m awareness program for experts and organizations to develop learning resources about responsible artificial intelligence. This program will support non-profit groups focused on educating programming and robotics.
Content Safety Approach
TikTok has justified its content review process, amid controversy over proposals to cut jobs for a large number of safety staff in the United Kingdom. The company is set to cut hundreds of positions in its trust and safety division in its British office, with labor groups and internet security professionals raising concerns that staff are being displaced by machine-led review.
A senior executive explained that human moderation would remain essential, but automated tools can shield workers by eliminating the most distressing content ahead of it gets reviewed by staff. The company announced a notable drop in shocking and graphic content reviewed by human moderators over the past year due to reliance on its automated systems.
“We think that it’s essential to balance staff and AI to keep the platform safe,” the executive stated. “We’ll have humans as involved in the system, but we also think it’s highly necessary to minimize viewing of harmful content as swiftly, which is the area in which a lot of the machine support is proving valuable process content quickly.”
