TikTok's latest announcement is a significant step in their ongoing efforts to ensure user safety. They are introducing a new feature that will automatically flag artificial intelligence-generated content  (AIGC), even if it's uploaded from other platforms. This move is a direct response to the growing concern about misleading content.

Consultation with experts, including MIT's Dr. David G. Rand, guided the development of these updates. TikTok also committed to the Partnership on AI's Responsible Practices for Synthetic Media in February and partnered with the nonprofit Digital Moment in August for online community discussions on AI advancements.

Previously, only content created within TikTok's own AI tools was automatically labeled. Now, the platform is leveraging digital watermarks, a technology developed by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), to identify and label AIGC. This is a significant technical advancement in the fight against misleading content. 

TikTok is not tackling this issue alone. In a show of industry-wide collaboration, they are partnering with OpenAI, a recent addition to the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA). This partnership aims to promote transparency and provide a clearer context for AI-generated content on platforms like TikTok.

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Why TikTok Will Flag AI-Generated Content

TikTok's new way to flag AI-generated content aims to let users know the origins of the content they are viewing, according to The Guardian.

However, although large companies like Microsoft, Google, and Adobe are participating in the initiative, there are still difficulties because smaller and less regulated artificial intelligence (AI) groups create content without labeling it as AI-generated. This lack of labeling challenges platforms and users in accurately identifying AI-generated content.

TikTok's move also follows Meta's footsteps by labeling AI-generated videos to fight back against misinformation commonly recorded on Meta platforms, as reported by VCPost.

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