Singer or Clanker? YouTube Music Will Tell You With New AI Labels

AI music labels are now rolling out on YouTube Music and will soon come to YouTube.

True human creativity takes time, but you know what doesn't? The slope of artificial intelligence. There are countless AI models that can generate something for music, and you might come across those songs on streaming services without even realizing it. Google says it will begin tagging that content in YouTube Music, based on similar disclosures in the original YouTube app.

Google isn't outright banning AI music or even talking bad about it. "Generative AI opens up new ways for artists to create, experiment and share music," the company said in a blog post.

However, the company also acknowledges that people want to know if a song was produced with AI tools. A new tag for AI content in YouTube Music is now live on the app and website, which looks a lot like the tag Google started adding to AI-generated videos on YouTube earlier this year.

The process of tagging music with AI will be similar to how Google detects YouTube videos. Google says it works with its partners and uses its own detection tools to detect AI music. When publishers upload content, they can determine how much (if any) artificial intelligence has been used. These categories are fully AI, partially AI and no AI. However, this is optional.

YouTube may also be able to detect the use of artificial intelligence without voluntary disclosure. In the case of songs created using Google AI, there is a SynthID tag to indicate whether something was produced or edited with AI. It may also use C2PA metadata, which many other AI music creators use.

While Google is in a better position than many streaming services to identify AI content, the lack of tags shouldn't be proof that something is the product of human talent. This is true for AI tagging for all types of content. There are many ways to use artificial intelligence tools, many of which leave no identifying marks in the resulting file.

Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at ArsTechnica, covering the ways Google, artificial intelligence, and mobile technology continue to change the world. During his 20-year career, he has written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. He has reviewed the number of phones most people have ever owned. You can follow him on Bluesky, where you'll find photos of dozens of his mechanical keyboards.