TikTok now lets you choose how much AI-generated content you want to see
TikTok, an app that was once just a place for user-generated content, is launch a new setting that allows users to choose how much AI-generated content they want to see in their ‘For You’ feed. The company is also introducing more advanced labeling technologies for AI-generated content.
The new AI-generated content (AIGC) is rolling out within the app’s “Manage Topics” tool, which allows users to choose what they see on TikTok.
“Managing Topics already allows people to adjust how often they see content related to more than ten categories, such as Dance, Sports, and Food & Drink,” TikTok explained in a blog post. “Like these controls, the AIGC setting is intended to help people customize the diverse range of content in their feed, rather than completely removing or replacing content in feeds.”
This move comes as companies like OpenAI and Meta embrace AI-only feeds. In September, Meta released Vibes, a new feed for sharing and creating short, AI-generated videos. A few days after Meta’s launch, OpenAI released Sora, a social media platform for creating and sharing AI-generated videos.
Since Sora launched, realistic AI-generated videos have been posted on TikTok. Additionally, many TikTok users use AI to create footage for posts on other topics, such as history or celebrities.
TikTok says that with the new AI-generated content control, users who want to see less of this type of content can now dial things back, while those who enjoy it can choose to see more of it.
You can access the new feature by going to your Settings, selecting “Content Preferences” and then clicking the “Manage Topics” option. You can then move the slider for different topics, including AI-generated content, to adjust how much you want to see that type of content in your For You feed or not.
The change will be rolled out in the coming weeks, TikTok says.
To improve its ability to label AI-generated content, TikTok is now testing a technology called “invisible watermarking.”
TikTok already requires people to label realistic AI-generated content and uses a cross-industry technology called Content References by C2PAthat embeds metadata into the content, letting the company and other platforms know when something has been generated by AI. However, TikTok notes that these labels may be removed when content is re-uploaded or edited on other platforms.
With the new ‘invisible watermarks’, TikTok is adding another layer of security by using a watermark that only it can read. That means it will be harder for others to remove it.
TikTok will add invisible watermarks to AI-generated content created with TikTok tools like AI Editor Pro. It also adds them to content uploaded with C2PA’s content references. The company says these watermarks will label content more reliably. TikTok notes that it will continue to read C2PA’s content references and add them to AI-generated content created on its platform.
In connection with these efforts, TikTok also announced it is launching a $2 million AI literacy fund focused on experts like the nonprofit Girls who codeto create content that teaches people about AI literacy and safety.
