TikTok to adopt new tech aimed at labelling AI-generated images

TikTok on Thursday (May 9) announced that it would begin using a technology that would assist the short-video platform in identifying and labelling the content generated by artificial intelligence.

It said that it would adopt the usage of "Content Credentials", which is a digital watermark that helps determine how the images were edited or created.

The technology, which was at first spearheaded by Adobe, is now open to use for other organisations too.

Notably, it has already been adopted by firms such as ChatGPT's creator OpenAI.

Researchers have raised concerns over how AI-generated content can meddle with the US elections that are scheduled later this year.

TikTok was one of the 20 tech companies that earlier this year signed an agreement vowing to combat the threat posed by artificial intelligence.

Other major tech firms like Alphabet Google's YouTube and Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, have said that they will begin using Content Credentials.

For this system to function properly, the maker of the generative AI tool, which has been used to make the content, and the platform where it has been shared, must comply with the industry norms.

TikTok already labels the content generated by AI tools inside the application, however, with this new move, it would also label the content produced via the help of artificial intelligence outside of the platform.

"We also have policies that prohibit realistic AI that is not labelled, so if realistic AI (generated contents) appears on the platform, then we will remove it as violating our community guidelines," Adam Presser, head of operations and trust and safety at TikTok, said in an interview.

TikTok, ByteDance challenge potential US ban in court

TikTok and its parent firm ByteDance on Tuesday (May 7) filed a legal challenge against the US targeting a bill signed by President Joe Biden that would push the app to either face a ban in the United States or to be sold.

The development came almost two weeks after Biden passed a law giving the popular short-form video hosting service an ultimatum of 270 days to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the country.

TikTok argues that the bill signed by the US president was unconstitutional.

"For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than one billion people worldwide," said the suit by TikTok and ByteDance.

The lawsuit by the firm and the short-video sharing platform alleges that the move violates the First Amendment, charging that "Congress has made a law curtailing massive amounts of protected speech."

It further stated that the divestiture demanded for the short video app for it to be functional in the country is "simply not possible".

(With inputs from agencies)