TikTok, an app that was once just a place for user-generated content, is launch a new setting that lets users choose how much AI-generated content they want to see in the For You stream. The company is also introducing more advanced markup technologies for AI-generated content.
The new AI-Generated Content Control (AIGC) is rolling out in the app’s ‘Topic Management’ tool, which allows users to choose what they see on TikTok.
“Topic Management already enables users to customize how often they see content related to more than 10 categories such as dance, sports, and food and drink,” TikTok explained in a blog post. “Like these controls, the AIGC setting is intended to help people accommodate the diverse range of content in their stream, rather than remove or completely replace content in streams.”
The move comes as companies like OpenAI and Meta adopt AI-only feeds. In September, Meta launched Vibes, a new feed for sharing and creating short AI-generated videos. A few days after the release of Meta, OpenAI released Sora, a social media platform for creating and sharing AI-generated videos.
Since Sora’s release, realistic AI-generated videos have been posted on TikTok. In addition, many TikTok users leverage AI to create graphics for posts on other topics, such as history or celebrities.
TikTok says that with its new AI-generated content control, users who want to see less of this type of content can now dial things down, 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, then clicking Manage Themes. You can then move the slider for different topics, including AI-generated content, to adjust how much you do or don’t want to see that type of content in your feed for you.
The change will roll out in the coming weeks, TikTok says.
To improve its ability to flag AI-generated content, TikTok is now testing a technology called “invisible watermarking.”
TikTok already requires people to tag realistic AI-generated content and uses a cross-industry technology called Content Credentials from C2PAwhich embeds metadata in content that allows it and other platforms to know when something is generated by artificial intelligence. However, TikTok notes that these tags can be removed when content is re-uploaded or edited on other platforms.
With the new “invisible watermarks”, TikTok will add another layer of safeguards by using a watermark that only it can read. This means it will be harder for others to remove it.
TikTok will start adding 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 Credentials. The company says these watermarks will help it mark content more reliably. TikTok notes that it will continue to read C2PA’s Content Credentials and add them to AI-generated content created on its platform.
In connection with these efforts, TikTok also announced that it is launching a $2 million artificial intelligence fund aimed at experts such as the non-profit Girls Who Codeto create content that teaches people about AI literacy and safety.
