EU Commission asks big tech companies to start labeling AI-generated content to fight disinformation.
The European Union Commission has urged Google and Facebook to label all AI-generated content on their platforms. Fearing increasing levels of disinformation with tools like ChatGPT, the EU wants tech companies to start labeling the content created by AI soon instead of waiting for laws to come into force.
Generative AI tools can create text, image, video, and audio content easily. This content is not only easy to create but also very easy to spread. The EU’s voluntary anti-disinformation charter aims to make it easier for people to distinguish real from fake or fact from fiction.
Dozens of large tech firms including Meta, Google, Twitter, and TikTok were called upon as these have the “potential to disseminate AI-generated disinformation,” said VP for Values and Transparency at EU Commission Věra Jourová. She added that these companies should “put in place technology to recognize such content and clearly label this to users.”
Deepfakes will need to have “prominent markings” starting August 25 under the Digital Services Act. Say no and risk a big fine.
The 44 participants in the Code of Practice on Disinformation are about to start a new group that will discuss how to respond to emerging fake AI-generated content. This group includes social media companies like YouTube and TikTok and fact-checking groups.
Especially slamming Twitter, which left the group a couple of weeks ago, the EU Commission warns that it can get slapped with a £145m penalty or run the risk of being banned from the region completely if it doesn’t operate under the Digital Services Act.
Taking note of Russian disinformation campaigns, she said, “This is not business as usual; what the Russians want is to undermine the support of the public opinion of our citizens for the support of Ukraine.” For this, the EU asked Facebook and others to put up more fact-checking facilities in non-English languages of Eastern Europe.
The EU is pretty much the leader in regulating how tech companies operate. EU’s work on regulating AI is being seen as the precursor to what’s to come regarding AI content and its spread. As per The Guardian, “Many believe the commission will not hesitate to make an example of Twitter to show the DSA has teeth.”
