TikTok is introducing a new setting that will allow people to choose how much AI generated content appears in their For You feed. The feature forms part of the platform’s wider efforts to respond to the rapid rise of AI videos across social media, and to give users greater control over what they see.
TikTok says the setting will begin rolling out in the coming weeks. It will sit within the app’s Manage Topics tool, which already lets users adjust the frequency of categories such as food, sports and dance.
The change comes as rival platforms race to embrace AI first features. Meta recently launched Vibes, a feed dedicated to AI generated video clips, while OpenAI unveiled Sora, a platform for creating and sharing fully AI produced videos. Since then, realistic AI content has flooded TikTok, from synthetic celebrity clips to entirely AI constructed history explainers.
How the new controls will work
Users will be able to find the new AI generated content control by going to Settings, selecting Content Preferences, then Manage Topics. From there, they can move a slider to request more or less AI generated content in their feed.
TikTok stresses that the setting is designed to tailor rather than remove content. People will not be able to block AI videos completely, but can reduce how often they appear.
The company says the goal is to give people more agency over their viewing experience at a time when AI content is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from human produced videos. TikTok says it has already identified more than one billion AI generated posts on the platform.
New watermarking technology
Alongside the user setting, TikTok is trialling invisible watermarking for AI generated videos. The technology embeds a marker that only TikTok can read, making it harder for others to strip AI labels when clips are shared across platforms.
TikTok already uses Content Credentials, an industry standard tool that stores AI labels in metadata. But those labels can be lost when videos are edited or reuploaded elsewhere. The new watermark will sit alongside existing tools and will be applied to content created with TikToks own AI tools as well as content that arrives with Credentials already embedded.
The company says the change will help it label AI videos more reliably and protect users from being misled by synthetic media.
What this means for users and influencers
For everyday TikTok users, the update may offer some relief from what many describe as a growing wave of AI generated clips. The platform has seen increasing complaints about so called AI slop, with some users saying their feeds have become crowded with synthetic videos that feel repetitive or inauthentic.
For influencers and creators, the impact is more complex. Those who rely heavily on AI tools may see their visibility change as people choose to see less AI content. Others who emphasise authentic human video may benefit from a shift in user preferences.
TikTok is also launching a two million dollar AI literacy fund to help organisations teach people how AI works and how to navigate synthetic content safely.
As the role of AI in social media continues to grow, TikTok’s latest move highlights the challenge of balancing innovation with transparency and user choice.
