TikTok is introducing a fresh option that allows them to cut down on the volume of AI-made media appearing in their streams. This initiative comes as the service revealed that it currently hosts more than 1 bn AI videos.
Pilot Phase and Launch
The update is in a pilot phase over the coming weeks before a global release. This advancement coincides with a increase in AI content, driven by new content generation software.
AI Proliferation Online
Studies have shown that nearly a tenth of the quickest rising video streams on a competing service primarily display content made by AI. A considerable share of this output is deemed “AI slop”, a term for substandard, bulk-generated content that is often nonsensical or surreal.
“We know from our community that a lot of users appreciate content created using AI tools, from computer-generated images to educational videos, and we want to provide users the ability to increase or decrease of that, according to their own preferences,” said a spokesperson.
Volume and Proportions
The platform shared that there are now over a billion videos on its app identified as made with AI. In total, over 100 m media items are submitted to the service daily, making AI-generated material a minor percentage of its overall inventory.
How to Adjust Settings
Users will be able to limit or boost the volume of AI content they view by using the topic control option in the application and choosing “AI-generated content”. Other topics that currently be modified under the tool encompass news, style, beauty, and choreography.
AI Disclosure Rules
Its rules require content makers to label “realistic” artificially created content, and it bans harmful AI impersonations of well-known individuals or emergencies. Any realistic artificial content that is unmarked can be taken down under its user guidelines.
Furthermore, the service will now apply an AI-generated tag to content produced via its proprietary AI systems, or identified by an collaborative effort for identifying content made by AI. This step is intended to deter users from trying to bypass the disclosure requirement.
Educational Initiatives
The company is furthermore establishing a $2 million educational fund for professionals and institutions to create educational content about ethical AI use. This program will assist charitable organizations focused on educating coding and technology.
Content Safety Approach
TikTok has justified its content review process, following debate over plans to cut jobs for hundreds of review team members in the United Kingdom. It is planning to eliminate hundreds of positions in its user protection team in its British office, with labor groups and online safety experts voicing alarm that staff are being displaced by machine-led review.
A company official explained that people-led review would still have a role, but AI can shield workers by filtering out the most distressing content prior to it gets reviewed by people. TikTok reported a significant reduction in explicit and harmful content handled by safety staff over the past year due to reliance on its machine learning processes.
“We think that it’s essential to combine people and machines to maintain a secure environment,” she said. “We’ll have staff as involved in the system, but we further consider it’s extremely critical to minimize viewing of unsafe media as quickly as possible, which is the area in which a significant AI assistance is making a difference operate efficiently.”
