Meta to label AI-generated political ads

Social media giant Meta on Wednesday previewed a new policy that will require all political ads made using artificial intelligence to be clearly marked for users. The Facebook and Instagram parent company believes the policy will quell the spread of disinformation during the upcoming election season. Ads designed using AI will be labeled if they include realistic-looking, machine-generated images about a social issue or political candidate. However, ads using AI for minimal tasks, like refining or resizing an image, will not require disclosure. The new policy will take effect internationally next year. Meta did not give a concrete date for the rollout.

Are candidates already using AI to make ads? Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ran a political ad in June with an AI-generated image of his rival candidate, former President Donald Trump, hugging former chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci. The Republican National Committee also released an AI-generated ad in April to show the future of America if President Joe Biden is re-elected.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report on how Meta uses AI to create user algorithms.