At TikTok, we believe AI can transform how people share their creativity, discover new passions, and stay safe on our platform, when used transparently and responsibly. That’s why we invest in AI-powered experiences that create value for our community, while building transparency tools to spot, shape and understand AI-generated content (AIGC). Today, we’re announcing new ways to do that, including:
- Testing a new tool to help people shape the AIGC in their feed.
- More advanced AIGC labeling technologies.
- A $2M educational fund for experts to make content about responsible AI.
Shaping how much AI-generated content you see
In the coming weeks, we’ll start testing a new AI-generated content control in our ‘Manage topics’ feature to empower people to choose how much AIGC they want to see in their For You feeds.
Manage Topics already enables people to adjust how often they see content related to over 10 categories like Dance, Sports, and Food & Drinks. Like those controls, the AIGC setting is intended to help people tailor the diverse range of content in their feed, rather than removing or replacing content in feeds entirely. This means that people who love AI-generated history content can see more of this content, while those who’d rather see less can choose to dial things down. It adds to the suite of tools that help people personalize content recommendations and discover more of what they love—like customizable keyword filters and our “not interested” button.
Bolstering our AI-generated content labeling
To bolster our AI-generated content labels, we’re also testing a solution called “invisible watermarking.”
We require people to label realistic AI-generated content on TikTok and layer multiple strategies to apply that rule. This includes labeling tools we offer creators as well as our own detection models. We also use a cross-industry technology called C2PA Content Credentials, which embeds metadata into content that lets us—as well as other platforms who use C2PA—know when something is AI-generated. These efforts helped label over 1.3 billion videos to date.
However, a common industry challenge is that these kinds of labels may be removed when content is reuploaded or edited elsewhere. “Invisible watermarks” add another layer of safeguards with a robust technological “watermark” that only we can read, making it harder for others to remove.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll start adding invisible watermarks to AI-generated content made with TikTok tools like AI Editor Pro, and content uploaded with C2PA Content Credentials. The watermarks will help us label content more reliably, and give us more context around changes made to content. We’ll also continue reading C2PA Content Credentials and adding them into AI-generated content made on TikTok.
Deepening industry collaboration
We continue deepening industry partnerships to better advance AI transparency and education together. Now, we’re launching a $2M AI literacy fund for experts like GirlsWhoCode to create For You feed content that teaches people about AI literacy and safety. It includes over 20 experts across over a dozen markets globally, and we continue to add more.
To contribute and learn from industry best practices, we’re also proud to become sponsors of non-profit Partnership on AI, and join two of their steering committees for researching AI’s intersection with Enterprise and Human Connection. Since 2023, TikTok has been a founding member of their Framework for Responsible Practices for Synthetic Media, and shared public updates on how we live up to it.
Continuing to evolve our labeling approach
We continue to refine our labeling approach as industry norms and expert guidance evolve, while maintaining firm policies against harmful AIGC. For example, over the last year, we enhanced our AIGC labels by adding more context around whether content was labeled due to our AI detection, creator labels, or TikTok AI tools. We’ll continue to iterate as our industry evolves in the months to come.
Unlocking AI’s positive impact
These updates are part of our wider work to safeguard and empower positive experiences with AI. We continue to invest in building innovative AI creation features for our community, like Smart Split and AI Outline. We’re also using AI to bolster how we protect TikTok and the well-being of our trust and safety team. As AI evolves, we’ll continue to share updates on how its powering safety, discovery and creativity on TikTok.
