Screengrab of an AI-generated image of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, dancing in a 1980s nightclub. View image in fullscreen Screengrab of an AI-generated image of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, dancing in a 1980s nightclub. AI (artificial intelligence) AI labels to be compulsory on authentic-looking content under EU rules Companies must ensure people know when they are interacting with artificially generated images, audio and text designed to look real
Prefer the Guardian on Google From apparently conspiring to steal elections to abusing staff or performing embarrassing dance moves, the last few years have seen plenty of fake content made about politicians intended to malign its targets and mislead the public.
Now EU rules aim to stem the flood of this deceptive content: starting from Sunday, artificially generated images, audio and text designed to look authentic must be labelled.
The rules, devised under the EU’s landmark AI Act , mean companies must ensure people know when they are interacting with an AI-powered chatbot or viewing a manipulated image or AI-generated text.
View image in fullscreen Deepfakes have included fake audio of the Slovakian opposition leader, Michal Šimečka, conspiring with a journalist to rig election. Photograph: Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters The rules apply to new AI systems on the EU market from 2 August, while existing ones have an extra four months to comply.
“It is a matter not only of customer protection, it’s also a matter of democracy protection,” the Green MEP Sergey Lagodinsky, who helped negotiate the AI Act, told the Guardian. “Making transparent this information is something which we need to preserve our democracy and the authenticity of facts online.”
Under the rules, synthetic text, images, video and audio designed to look truthful must be visibly marked as AI-generated and contain a digital watermark to show the artificial origins of the content.
Texts on matters of public interest must also be labelled as AI-made if there is no human editorial oversight.
Companies are encouraged to label AI-generated content pre-dating the rules, although this is not compulsory. The rules will not apply to users’ personal content and there is an exemption for “evidently artistic”, satirical and fictional works.
Failure to comply could result in fines of up to €15m (£12.8) or 3% of a company’s worldwide global turnover.
The EU executive has created black-and-white labels anyone can use, although companies can design their own.
View image in fullscreen EU symbols to be used on content using AI. Illustration: EU Deepfakes have included audio purporting to reveal the Slovakian opposition leader Michal Šimečka conspiring with a journalist to rig elections, mocked-up videos of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, dancing in a 1980s nightclub, and fake footage of the then UK Labour leader, Keir Starmer, abusing party staff.
The tech industry says it supports the quest to make deepfakes visible, but fears the rules will be interpreted too broadly and overwhelm internet users with banners and labels.
The Computer and Communications Industry Association argues that EU guidelines published in July have expanded the definition of a deepfake far beyond the 2024 AI Act.
“The label was meant to flag deceptive content,” said CCIA Europe’s AI policy lead, Boniface de Champris. “That distinction has been removed, so now almost everything gets labelled – a landscape in an advert is the same as a man…