Google Requires All Political Advertisers To Be Honest If They Use AI

JAKARTA - As the year of the General Election (Election) approaches, Google requires political advertisers to clearly disclose when they create ads powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

"In mid-November 2023, we updated our political content policy to require all verified election advertisers in verification-required territories to clearly disclose when their ad contains inauthentic, synthetic content," Google said in its announcement, quoted Thursday, September 7.

Google says synthetic content depicts real people or events and appears realistic. Ads with synthetic content will make it appear as if someone is saying or doing something they are not saying or doing.

This includes changing footage of real events or producing a realistic depiction of an event to depict scenes that did not really occur.

With the new rules, advertisers must disclose them clearly and conspicuously, and must be placed in locations that are likely to be known by viewers.

"This policy will apply to image, video and audio content. Ads that contain synthetic content that is altered or fabricated in a way that is not relevant to the claims made in the ad will be exempt from these disclosure requirements," Google said.

The company explains that it includes editing techniques such as image resizing, cropping, color or brightness correction, correction of defects such as red-eye removal, and background editing that does not produce a realistic depiction of the actual scene.