An end to fakes on WhatsApp: How to identify AI-generated content
How many times have you wondered if a photo or video on a WhatsApp channel is a real shot or just a successful AI forgery? In an era where AI tools are becoming more advanced, distinguishing reality from fiction is increasingly difficult. According to a report by WABetaInfo, the popular app will soon introduce a feature to help users identify AI-generated content in seconds.
How many times have you wondered if a photo or video on a WhatsApp channel you follow is a real shot or just another successful AI forgery? In an era where AI tools are becoming more accessible and advanced by the day, it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between reality and fiction. According to a report by the WABetaInfo website, the popular application is about to make life much easier by helping users identify fake content in seconds.
What is changing?
WhatsApp is currently working on a new feature that will allow channel administrators to mark content created using artificial intelligence. The new option was discovered in the latest beta version of the application for Android devices and appears to be a response to the European Union's new transparency requirements regarding AI content. Although the feature was discovered on Android, a version for iPhone users and a wider rollout are expected later on.
According to the report, the process will be quite simple and user-friendly, resembling the way channel administrators currently mark sponsored content. After sharing an update containing media created with AI, the channel administrator will be able to long-press the message to open the options menu. There, they will find a new button called "Add AI content label." Clicking it will add a visible label directly to the message bubble, so that followers know immediately that the content is not real.
Something to note
It is important to know that not all content created by artificial intelligence will require marking. According to WhatsApp's explanation screen, the requirement mainly refers to photos, videos, or other media files that were created or edited using AI tools. This means that channel administrators will likely not be required to mark texts written by artificial intelligence. Additionally, note that after adding the label to the message, channel administrators may not be able to remove it.
At this stage, it is not yet clear if the new option will be released to all users worldwide or if it will be available only in countries where such marking is required by law. In any case, this is an important step that will provide more transparency and help us better understand what is real and what is not in the content we consume daily on our mobile devices.
