In April 2024, Meta introduced the ‘Made With AI’ label to help users identify AI-generated content. Users who relied on Generative AI tools to create or modify content in a post could choose to apply this label. However, Meta also clarified that if users chose not to apply the label, the company’s own system would automatically tag the photos with the ‘Made with AI’ label. But it looks like the company is changing this tag to ‘AI Info’ after receiving a backlash over the change.
This change also occurred after the company’s Oversight Board ruled that the existing approach lacked adequate context.
But Why is The Label Changing?
The problem was Meta’s rather generous use of the ‘Made with AI’ tag across posts and videos. This resulted in photos and videos edited using retouching tools, which rely on minor AI-driven modifications, marked as ‘Made with AI’. Many brands and users found their posts had the tag, which was often untrue and made it seem like their posts were AI-generated.
In the updated blog post, Meta states, “We agree with the Oversight Board's argument that our existing approach is too narrow since it only covers videos created or altered by AI to make a person appear to say something they didn't say.”
The company admits that the existing ‘Made with AI’ label failed to provide adequate context for today’s diverse content. The company also conducted public opinion surveys and consulted with academics and civil society organisations.
The post adds, “We agree with the Oversight Board's recommendation that providing transparency and additional context is now the better way to address manipulated media and avoid the risk of unnecessarily restricting freedom of speech, so we'll keep this content on our platforms so we can add labels and context.”
Introducing the ‘AI Info’ label is seen as a less restrictive approach to addressing manipulated media, ensuring sufficient context. When a digitally created or altered video or audio poses a significant risk of misleading the public, Meta will apply a prominent label to offer additional information and context.
The company plans to apply “AI Info” labels to a broader spectrum of video, audio, and image content upon detecting industry-standard AI image indicators or users disclosing their upload of AI-generated content. The AI Info label will be updated across all apps, such as Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, allowing users to click for additional information.
