YouTube Adds Prominent AI Labels And Automatic Detection For Generated Content

ACAndrew Curran@AndrewCurran_

YouTube is updating its AI policy this morning. If you have used YouTube recently, you already know that AI use is rampant there, and very seldom clearly identifiable. They are making two changes: - More prominent AI labels - Automatic AI detection Quoting from the blog: 'More visible, simplified labels We’re moving the disclosure label for photorealistic and meaningfully AI altered or generated content to a more prominent position. For Long-form Videos: The label will now appear directly below the video player, above the description. For Shorts: The label will appear as an overlay on the video itself. By moving these labels on to the main stage, viewers get the context they need at a glance. This is now the single label format for all photorealistic and meaningfully AI altered or generated content on YouTube. For content that is unrealistic, animated, or slightly altered, viewers can find this disclosure in the expanded description.' 'Introducing automatic AI detection While we still require creators to manually disclose when they use realistic AI, we want to make the process more seamless and reliable. Starting in May 2026, we’re rolling out new internal signals to help identify AI-generated content. If a creator doesn’t specify whether or not they used AI, but our systems detect significant photorealistic AI use, we will now automatically apply a label. As this technology continues to improve, creators remain in control. If a creator thinks their content was incorrectly identified as AI-generated, they can update the disclosure status in YouTube Studio. However, disclosures will remain permanent in a handful of cases, including: Content created using YouTube’s own AI tools, like Veo or Dream Screen. Content containing C2PA metadata indicating they were fully generative AI.'