Tired of lazy AI content infecting your phone? YouTube is increasing its control over AI-generated content, introducing a new system that automatically labels realistic AI videos even if the creator doesn’t disclose the use of artificial intelligence in the video.
Since 2024, the platform has required creators to publish realistic, AI-generated content or content that has been significantly altered, but it is now introducing its own detection system to help identify content that may not be properly published.
If YouTube identifies so-called “significant use of photorealistic AI,” it will automatically add a disclosure label to the video, even if the creator hasn’t marked the content as generated by AI.
The move comes at a time when AI-generated videos are becoming incredibly compelling, and AI labels will also become more prominent under the updated system. On standard YouTube videos, the disclosure appears directly below the video player and above the description. For short videos, it appears as an overlay on top of the video itself.
Importantly, YouTube says these labels are reserved for content that is photorealistic and meaningfully modified or generated by AI. More obviously artificial content, such as animations, stylized videos, or clips with only slight AI changes, continues to be disclosed hidden behind an expanded description.
Creators can dispute labels they believe have been applied incorrectly through YouTube Studio. However, there are some exceptions. You can’t remove labels from content created using YouTube’s own AI tools, such as Veo or Dream Screen, or from videos that contain industry-standard C2PA metadata that confirms they were completely generated by AI.
YouTube says the labels are informational only and do not affect how videos are recommended or a video’s ability to earn advertising revenue. The goal is to give creators control over how their content is managed, while increasing transparency for viewers, the company said.
Elsewhere, YouTube is rolling out personalized content feeds that can be generated from custom prompts. Users specify the types of videos they want to watch based on their interests, mood, and preferred topics, and YouTube creates a customized feed accordingly. This feature is currently rolling out to signed-in users on mobile apps and desktop in the US, but only if viewing and search history is enabled.
