Tech giant Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) on Tuesday said it would start detecting and labelling images generated by artificial intelligence (AI) from other companies posted by users in its social media apps.
Meta (META) also said it was working with industry partners to draw up technical standards for detecting AI content, including both video and audio.
“In the coming months, we will label images that users post to Facebook, Instagram and Threads when we can detect industry standard indicators that they are AI-generated,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s (META) president of global affairs, said in a blogpost.
Clegg added that Meta (META) will start labelling AI-generated images from companies such as Google (GOOG) (GOOGL), OpenAI, Microsoft (MSFT), Adobe (ADBE), Midjourney and Shutterstock (SSTK).
The company has already been labelling images generated by its own AI on its apps with the tag “Imagined with AI” in order to let users know that the picture – which in may cases closely resemble real photos – was created digitally.
“As the difference between human and synthetic content gets blurred, people want to know where the boundary lies. People are often coming across AI-generated content for the first time and our users have told us they appreciate transparency around this new technology,” Clegg said.
The move by Meta (META) comes amid industry concerns over the ability to which generative AI is now able to spit out content that blurs the line between real and fake.
The company said it was going to start applying the AI-generated labels through the next year, which also happens to be a U.S. election year – a period where a lot of misinformation abounds.
Additionally, Meta (META) is looking to detect and label AI-generated video and audio as well. While it works towards that capability, the company said it was adding a feature for its social media users to disclose when they share AI-generated video or audio so that Meta (META) can add a label to it.
“These are early days for the spread of AI-generated content. As it becomes more common in the years ahead, there will be debates across society about what should and shouldn’t be done to identify both synthetic and non-synthetic content … What we’re setting out today are the steps we think are appropriate for content shared on our platforms right now,” Meta’s (META) Nick Clegg added.