TikTok, an app that was once just a place for user-generated content, is launching a new setting that lets users 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) control is rolling out within the app’s “Manage Topics” tool, which lets users choose what they see on TikTok.
“Manage Topics already enables people to adjust how often they see content related to over 10 categories like Dance, Sports, and Food & Drinks,” TikTok explained in a blog post. “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.”
The move comes as companies like OpenAI and Meta are embracing 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’s launch, realistic AI-generated videos have been posted to TikTok. Additionally, many TikTok users are leveraging AI to create visuals for posts about other topics, like history or celebrities.
TikTok says that with the new AI-generated content control, users who want to see less of this sort of content can now dial things down, while those who enjoy it can choose to see more of it.
You can access the new capability by going into your Settings, selecting “Content Preferences” and then clicking the “Manage Topics” option. Then, you can move the slider for different topics, including AI-generated content, to adjust how much you do or don’t want to see that sort of content in your For You feed.
The change is rolling 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 Credentials from C2PA, which embeds metadata into content that lets it and other platforms know when something is AI-generated. However, TikTok notes that these labels can be removed when content is reuploaded 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. That means it’ll be harder for others to remove it.
TikTok will start adding invisible watermarks to AI-generated content made with TikTok tools like AI Editor Pro. It’s also adding them to content uploaded with C2PA’s Content Credentials. The company says these watermarks will help it label content more reliably. TikTok notes that it will continue reading C2PA’s Content Credentials and add them to AI-generated content made on its platform.
Related to these efforts, TikTok also announced that it’s launching a $2 million AI literacy fund aimed at experts, like the nonprofit Girls Who Code, to create content that teaches people about AI literacy and safety.
