Tik Tok says AI-generated spam ‘crowds out original creators’ — so it’s teaching users how to spot AI | Tech Radar

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Tik Tok says AI-generated spam ‘crowds out original creators’ — so it’s teaching users how to spot AI

Tik Tok is the latest platform to push back against AI slop

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Tik Tok is releasing a new tool to help users identify AI spam

It says that AI spam “crowds out original creators”

Industry insider suspects that ad revenue may be the real motivator

If you're getting tired of AI slop on social media, you're not alone. Even Tik Tok, which has spent the last couple of years rolling out AI creation tools, is now testing new ways to detect AI-generated spam and teaching users how to recognize AI content.

Tik Tok says it is testing improved detection systems to target accounts dedicated to posting AI-generated spam that “crowds out original creators”, and it is also creating a new guide that helps its users use AI tools responsibly. Tik Tok is launching a new in-app hub within the next few weeks where you can learn practical skills for spotting AI-generated content when you search for AI-related terms.

We spoke to Donatas Smailys — CEO of Billo, the largest UGC creator marketing platform in the US — about the new tool. His take is that Tik Tok is fighting AI content because it doesn't perform, and that hurts Tik Tok's ad business too.

"It would be naïve to read this as Tik Tok taking a moral stance. The platforms can see in their own data what audiences respond to, and they're quietly rebuilding their rules around real people.”

It strikes me as slightly ironic that Tik Tok, which has spent the last couple of years pushing AI creation tools, is now simultaneously educating people to recognize AI content and testing systems to suppress AI spam.

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If Tik Tok's own data suggests AI-generated spam is harming engagement or advertising performance, then it may be the saving grace for the rest of us who are tired of AI slop ruining the experience of social media. Frankly, at this point I’ll take anything that reduces the amount of AI videos that get served to me, for whatever reason.

The wider issue here is that if Tik Tok is beginning to treat low-quality AI spam as a platform problem, then it should raise some red flags for advertisers who heavily rely on synthetic influencers and AI creators. If low-quality AI spam was improving the platform, Tik Tok would have little incentive to invest in detecting and suppressing it.

Tik Tok actually has pretty stringent rules on AI content on its platform already. It’s quite common to see the label “Contains AI-generated content” on Tik Tok videos.

It seems that regulators are moving in the same direction. “New York now requires disclosure of synthetic performers in ads”, says Smailys “with penalties for those who don't comply. And my guess is that more states will follow. But the loss of trust is an even bigger risk here. Once your audience feels tricked, no disclosure label wins them back."

While the rise of AI slop seems unstoppable at the moment, I wonder whether we'll eventually look back at 2026 as the year platforms realized that flooding people's feeds with AI-generated content wasn't sustainable and that what users really wanted all along was more real people.

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Graham is the Senior Editor for AI at Tech Radar. With over 25 years of experience in both online and print journalism, Graham has worked for various market-leading tech brands including Computeractive, PC Pro, i More, Mac Format, Mac|Life, Maximum PC, and more. He specializes in reporting on everything to do with AI and has appeared on BBC TV shows like BBC One Breakfast and on Radio 4 commenting on the latest trends in tech. Graham has an honors degree in Computer Science and spends his spare time podcasting and blogging.

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