China to Require All AI-Generated Content to Be Labeled Clearly

The Chinese internet authority has proposed strict regulations for AI images requiring them to be clearly labeled and have embedded metadata.

The Cyberspace Administration of China unveiled its draft plan over the weekend which recommends all AI-generated content, including pictures, video, and audio, to have clear — even multiple — labels.

AI videos, for example, must post notices at the start and end of the video as well as during “appropriate” times during the clip.

If adopted, the rules will apply to AI companies, educational and scientific institutions, cultural institutions, and everyday internet users. Users of generative AI tools will be required to identify themselves and a log of their usage will be retained for six months.

As well as visible watermarks, companies and people will need to embed metadata into AI content. If the metadata is absent from a file, tech firms will be required to analyze the content and if it is suspected of being AI-generated then the company will be compelled to label it as such.

Those who don’t adhere to these rules will find themselves in trouble.

The Register notes that while the proposed rules are still at the draft stage and public consultation will continue until October, Chinese regulators aren’t known for making changes once statutes like this are posted. The tech publication says that these are the regulations Beijing likely wants to see implemented for AI.

Zhang Linghan, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, tells the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, that “the labeling system will enhance governance capabilities for AI-generated content, reduce the production of misinformation, prevent the contamination of future training data sets, and foster a healthy cyber information ecosystem”.

“This initiative marks a new phase of stringent regulation and high compliance standards in China’s generative AI services sector,” a Beijing-based lawyer who specializes in intellectual property transactions tells The South Morning China Post.

AI regulation is a hot topic around the world in 2024; Adobe, OpenAI, and Microsoft have backed a bill in California that requires tech companies to clearly label AI-generated content. Last week, a host of countries including the United States and the United Kingdom signed the “first-ever international legally binding treaty” aimed at ensuring AI systems are “fully consistent with human rights, democracy and the rule of law.”

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.