TikTok has pulled the plug on its controversial AI remix, the company confirmed to CNET on Thursday. This is a big change for a company that has been on a long journey to integrate AI into every part of its platform.
TikTok has launched preparations to test an AI-powered meme maker inspired by videos and clips on the platform, the company told CNET earlier this week. A new AI feature, called meme remixer, can allow anyone who sees your TikTok video to create an AI-generated image on it, changing the face or background. The hidden setting automatically gave users permission to retweet your AI-posted content, unless you explicitly turned it off.
Creators who have seen this setting on the social media app are complaining that their videos are automatically logged and are worried about how their data will be used.
To some TikTokers, it felt like an invasion of privacy and another attempt by social media to change original content.
“It shouldn’t be that hard to let us get out of the single conversion process,” said creator Sean Szolek-Van Valkenburgh in his video. While creators intentionally give up certain rights to their content when they post to forums, there should be an option to limit how much of that is exploited by AI, he said.
TikTok has been introducing AI features to its platform for several years now. You may have noticed a shiny new icon above the profile picture when you swipe up on videos — that’s Tako (pronounced “taco”), TikTok’s AI assistant.
Like other social media platforms, TikTok has faced criticism for incorporating AI, which creators fear. AI slop covers its original contentonce natural, legal again morally anxiety. But that hasn’t stopped companies like TikTok, Snapchat and Meta, which is proprietary Instagram and Facebookfrom charging to AI.
Remixable content
Before TikTok pulled it, the AI remix setting was turned on by default. There has been a switch that you can turn off to prevent others from creating AI memes from your clips. The setting works similarly to the ones that let you control whether people can edit or edit your videos.
Therefore, if the setting was not closed, and you sent your video to a new coffee shop, the commenter may use the meme remixer to type in custom information and create an AI image that shows your likeness on the beach or in another situation. These images will then be shared in the comments of the original video.
While you could turn off AI remixing for each video, there was no way to opt out at the account level. TikTok users should have turned off this setting for all videos. The meme testing tool has also been suspended as TikTok evaluates the response.
TikTok had said that if you allow your videos to be aggregated with AI, they will not be used to train its AI models. TikTok said the change did not affect how TikTok used or interacted with your content.
But given the dark nature of how tech companies develop AI, there’s no way for individual creators to guarantee this.
AI content on TikTok
In the company’s general AI policy, it states that any content edited or created entirely by AI must comply with its social guidelines.
TikTok’s rules regarding organized media specifically prohibit content that “misleads” users into believing that something that is not true is real, especially if it shows “fake authoritative sources or serious events, or shows the lies of public figures in certain circumstances.” This suggests that deepfakes can be prevented. Child sexual abuse material is also expressly prohibited.
AI-edited content shared on TikTok has an invisible watermark, which complies with the C2PA standard. But with new, more powerful AI photo and video models, it’s hard for people to tell if something is real or AI-generated.
While policies may look good on paper, their enforcement is key. One creator, Georgie, who goes by the handle soupytime, called it already easy for people to repost or steal streaming videos, and that the new AI tool will make it even easier to create deepfakes of well-known creators without their permission.
This can be dangerous, as we have seen Grok AI on X. Without proper security measures, it is easy for social media users to take photos and videos that people share online as well turn them into offensive, illegal content.