AI text, audio, video, images, and even virtual scenes will all need to be labeled.

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) national internet censor just announced that all AI-generated content will be required to have labels that are explicitly seen or heard by its audience and embedded in metadata. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) just released the transcript for the media questions and answers (akin to an FAQ) on its Measures for the Identification of Artificial Intelligence Generated and Synthetic Content [machine translated]. We saw the first signs of this policy move last September when the CAC’s draft plans emerged.

This regulation takes effect on September 1, 2025, and will compel all service providers (i.e., AI LLMs) to “add explicit labels to generated and synthesized content.” The directive includes all types of data: text, images, videos, audio, and even virtual scenes. Aside from that, it also orders app stores to verify whether the apps they host follow the regulations.

Users will still be able to ask for unlabeled AI-generated content for “social concerns and industrial needs.” However, the generating app must reiterate this requirement to the user and also log the information to make it easier to trace. The responsibility of adding the AI-generated label and metadata falls on the shoulders of this end-user person or entity.

  • Riskable@programming.devEnglish
    2·
    20 days ago

    Not a bad law if applied to companies and public figures. Complete wishful thinking if applied to individuals.

    For companies it’s actually enforceable but for individuals it’s basically impossible and even if you do catch someone uploading AI-generated stuff: Who cares. It’s the intent that matters when it comes to individuals.

    Were they trying to besmirch someone’s reputation by uploading false images of that person in compromising situations? That’s clear bad intent.

    Were they trying to incite a riot or intentionally spreading disinformation? Again, clear bad intent.

    Were they showing off something cool they made with AI generation? It is of no consequence and should be treated as such.

    • lily33@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      20 days ago

      I agree that it’s difficult to enforce such a requirement on individuals. That said, I don’t agree that nobody cares for the content they post. If they have “something cool they made with AI generation” - then it’s not a big deal to have to mark it as AI-generated.