AI generated content and chatbots will soon have to be clearly labelled under new EU transparency rules

Artificial intelligence-generated content and chatbots have become part of everyday life. In fact, wherever you look online, there is a high chance you will come across content created using AI.

From next Sunday 2nd August, however, deepfakes and certain other AI-generated content will need to be clearly labelled as new transparency rules under the European Union's AI Act begin to take effect.

The aim of these rules is to ensure that people can easily recognise when they are interacting with AI or viewing content that has been generated or manipulated using artificial intelligence, rather than created by a human.

The legislation is being introduced in stages. Under the latest requirements, companies deploying AI systems, including chatbots, must ensure that users are informed when they are interacting with artificial intelligence, unless this is already obvious from the context. AI-generated or AI-manipulated content, particularly deepfakes, must also be clearly disclosed.

This can be done either through a watermark or any other mark that makes it clear to the user that the content is generated through AI.

The European Union is mostly concerned with deepfakes which include text, images, videos and sounds that appear to be real but are generated or manipulated by AI.

All companies that don’t comply with the new transparency rules are subject to large fines.

In anticipation of the new rules, a number of large companies around the world have already begun labelling the content reflecting these new rules which will also be affecting businesses in Malta.

The transparency obligations are primarily aimed at organisations and businesses. Individuals using AI solely for personal, non-professional purposes are not affected by these requirements.

Existing AI systems have until December to adapt to the new rules.