YouTube unveils a new tool for disclosure of synthetic media usage by creators

“We’re not requiring creators to disclose content that is clearly unrealistic, animated, includes special effects, or has used generative AI for production assistance,” the post stated.

Official data has shown that examples of content that need disclosure include using the likeness of a realistic person, which involves digitally altering content for changing an individual’s face or using synthetic means to create a person’s voice for video narration, altering footage of real events or places, and generating realistic scenes, which portrays a realistic depiction of fictional major incidents. “Of course, we recognize that creators use generative AI in a variety of ways throughout the creation process. We won’t require creators to disclose if generative AI was used for productivity, like generating scripts, content ideas, or automatic captions. We also won’t require creators to disclose when synthetic media is unrealistic and/or the changes are inconsequential. These cases include clearly unrealistic content, such as animation or someone riding a unicorn through a fantastical world, color adjustment or lighting filters, special effects like background blur or vintage effects, beauty filters or other visual enhancements,” the post mentioned.

Moreover, the official post has specified the presence of a longer list of examples being available in YouTube’s Help Center. It’s believed that for the majority of videos, a label will be present in the expanded description, but for videos around sensitive topics, a more prominent label will be shown on the video itself. “You’ll start to see the labels roll out across all YouTube surfaces and formats in the weeks ahead, beginning with the YouTube app on your phone, and soon on your desktop and TV. And while we want to give our community time to adjust to the new process and features, in the future we’ll look at enforcement measures for creators who consistently choose not to disclose this information. In some cases, YouTube may add a label even when a creator hasn’t disclosed it, especially if the altered or synthetic content has the potential to confuse or mislead people. Importantly, we continue to collaborate across the industry to help increase transparency around digital content. This includes our work as a steering member of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA),” the post concluded.