YouTube has announced improved AI labels for videos as part of a movie to add transparency to content made with generative AI.

Anyone who’s used YouTube recently will no doubt be aware of the increase in AI slop on the platform, including fake AI-generated movie trailers that often get millions of views from misled viewers. Earlier this month, amid the wait for Marvel to release the Avengers: Doomsday trailer shown behind closed doors at CinemaCon, people filled the void by making trailers of their own, using online descriptions of the official trailer to generate fake AI approximations of what to expect.

Clips of fake Avengers: Doomsday trailers that show fights between Gambit and Shang-Chi, Thor and Doctor Doom, and Steve Rogers turning up at the end in dramatic fashion enjoyed millions of views across social media, with some saying they were misled into thinking they were the real deal.

But the problem extends into other, more serious areas of YouTube, including AI slop aimed squarely at children, most of whom struggle to discern the nature of what they’re watching.

In a blog post published today, YouTube announced two updates it believes will improve AI disclosures. It’s moving the disclosure label for “photorealistic and meaningfully AI altered or generated content” to a more prominent position. For long-form videos, the label will now appear directly below the video player, above the description. For Shorts, the label will appear as an overlay on the video itself.

“By moving these labels on to the main stage, viewers get the context they need at a glance,” YouTube said. “This is now the single label format for all photorealistic and meaningfully AI altered or generated content on YouTube.”

However, for content that is unrealistic, animated, or slightly altered, the disclosure will be found in the expanded description.

Perhaps more significant is YouTube's introduction of automatic AI detection. “While we still require creators to manually disclose when they use realistic AI, we want to make the process more seamless and reliable,” YouTube explained. “Starting in May 2026, we’re rolling out new internal signals to help identify AI-generated content.

“If a creator doesn’t specify whether or not they used AI, but our systems detect significant photorealistic AI use, we will now automatically apply a label.”

Any creator who believes their content was incorrectly flagged as AI-generated can update the disclosure status in YouTube Studio. However, disclosures will remain permanent in a handful of cases, including:

• Content created using YouTube’s own AI tools, like Veo or Dream Screen.
• Content containing C2PA metadata indicating they were fully generative AI.
• Our commitment to responsibility

“These changes are designed to balance transparency with creator control,” YouTube continued. “It’s important to note that a disclosure label alone does not change how a video is recommended or whether it’s eligible to earn money. In a world where AI is changing what’s possible, our goal is simple: make it as easy as possible for creators and viewers to have the right information.”

In December, YouTube killed two of the biggest YouTube channels responsible for fake movie trailers. Screen Culture and KH Studio, whose fake movie trailer videos had collectively generated billions of views, were hauled offline. Both Screen Culture and KH Studio were infamous on the internet after pumping out fake trailers for years, particularly for movies that fans either hoped Hollywood would end up making, or had announced but had yet to see an official debut trailer. As you’d expect, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a popular choice, and some of the fake trailers ended up outranking official ones on YouTube.

It’s important to note that the clampdown follows Disney’s cease-and-desist letter to Google. The megacorp had accused Google of infringing its copyright "on a massive scale" by using its works to train its own generative AI models.

Misleading videos made by generative AI have exploded on the internet in recent years as the technology has become more popular and accessible. Physicist Brian Cox went public with complaints about YouTube accounts that had used AI to create deepfakes of him saying “nonsense” about comet 3I/ATLAS. Similarly, Keanu Reeves hit out at AI deepfakes selling products without his permission, insisting "it's not a lot of fun." In July last year, it was reported that Reeves pays a company a few thousand dollars a month to get the likes of TikTok and Meta to take down imitators.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.