TikTok will give users more power to reduce the amount of artificial intelligence-made content that comes up on people’s feeds, they are set to test this for a few weeks before its worldwide rollout
TikTok is set to give their users the opportunity to lower the amount of content made by artificial intelligence that appears on their feeds.
TikTok revealed that they host more than one billion AI videos on their platform, as new video generating tools like OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Veo 3 have caused a spike in AI content. But, the social media platform is currently testing a change that’ll allow users to decrease the amount of AI-generated content they’re exposed to.
According to the Guardian, nearly one in 10 of the fastest-growing YouTube channels worldwide, only show AI-generated content. With the term “AI slop” being coined, meaning low-quality, mass-produced content that is often meaningless and contains unreal imagery.
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TikTok’s European director of public policy for safety and privacy, Jade Nester said: “We know from our community that many people enjoy content made with AI tools, from digital art to science explainers, and we want to give people the power to see more or less of that, based on their own preferences.”
TikTok shared that there are now 1.3 billion videos on there that are labelled as AI-generated, however, due to there being more than 100 million pieces of content uploaded to TikTok every single day, AI content still only makes up a minor part of it.
The feature will ensure that users can choose to reduce or increase the amount of AI content they want to see. They can do this by: opening the app, clicking on “manage topic” in settings and choosing “AI generated content”. There are already topics on that filter that can already be changed to suit a user’s needs, which include, current affairs, fashion, beauty and dance.
Under TikTok policies, they require that creators should label videos with the term, “realistic” if made with AI content; if this is not followed then the video will be removed. Their guidelines also stop the creation of deepfakes that can be deemed as dangerous, like well-known people or worldwide catastrophic events.
An “AI-made” watermark will come into force when content is made with TikTok’s own AI instruments. They also aim to partner with organisations and experts in order for them to teach and create educational content on using AI responsibly. TikTok will be funding experts and organisations like Girls Who Code, £1.5 million to do this.
There have been criticisms that TikTok has faced, due to their plans to make hundreds of UK-based content moderators redundant. They are set to cut 439 jobs in the trust and safety team in London. Trade unions and online safety experts are however, concerned that humans are being replaced by AI moderation instead.
TikTok’s global head of program management for trust and safety, Brie Pegum explained, that human moderation still has to play a part, but with AI they can protect employees, by removing the most harmful and distressing content before it is viewed by humans. The platform also said, that there has been a 76% decrease in graphic and shocking material that has been viewed by human moderators over the past year, due to the automated systems getting there first.
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