YouTube AI Labels: What Actually Changed

YouTube's altered-content policy asks creators to disclose realistic synthetic media — an AI voice, a face-swap, or footage of something that never happened. You toggle this in YouTube Studio when you upload.

You do not need a label for unrealistic content, minor edits, colour grading or productivity tools. The line is realism: could a viewer reasonably mistake it for something authentic?

For sensitive topics like health, news and elections, YouTube shows the disclosure directly on the video rather than tucked in the description. Plan your on-screen disclosure accordingly.

Not sure which side of the line you are on? Run your video through the generator and get a copy-paste description line in seconds.