Report: Hundreds of TikTok accounts use artificial intelligence to create viral content, including anti-immigrant and sexualized materials, accumulating billions of views

A report cited by The Guardian reveals that hundreds of TikTok accounts focused on artificial intelligence (AI) generated content have garnered 4.5 billion views in a month. These accounts published 43,000 posts, many of which were automated and contained controversial content, including sexualized materials and anti-immigrant sentiments. AI Forensics, the organization that conducted the study, found that half of the most active accounts promoted sexualized images of women, some of which had aspects suggesting minors. The accounts were observed posting frequently, some even up to 70 times a day, and avoided proper labeling of AI-generated content. TikTok acknowledged the existence of AI-generated content on the platform but stated that the allegations in the report are unfounded. Additionally, TikTok claimed that it is working to remove harmful content and improve the labeling of AI-generated materials.

Researchers suggest that the platform should implement stricter measures to distinguish between AI-generated content and that created by human users, in order to protect users from misinformation and inappropriate content.