Understand the How this content was made labels on videos

Know where to look

YouTube says the details appear in the How this content was made section of the expanded description. For AI-generated music or photorealistic content, a label may also appear in the video player. Labels for non-music AI audio and for non-photorealistic or animated AI content may appear in the description instead.

If you only watch on a small screen without opening the description, you can miss the disclosure entirely, so open the description when the origin of a clip matters to you.

Understand how a label is added

YouTube describes several routes. A creator can disclose AI use when uploading. A label can come from YouTube's own generative tools. It can come from valid Content Credentials showing that a whole video was made with AI, and in that case an attribution line can name the source that validated the information. YouTube also says it may apply a label itself, including where its systems detect AI-generated or altered content.

Creators are required to disclose realistic AI-generated or altered content, such as making a real person appear to do something they did not, or altering footage of a real event or place. Minor aesthetic edits, captions and using AI to draft a script or title do not require disclosure.

Read a label as context, not a verdict

A label describes how content was made. It does not say whether the claims in a video are true, and the absence of a label does not prove a clip is unaltered: the rules focus on realistic content and depend partly on creator disclosure. If a video makes a factual claim that matters, check it against other reliable sources whatever the label says.

• Open the expanded description to see disclosures.
• Note whether a label came from the creator, a tool or Content Credentials.
• Remember that unrealistic or lightly edited content may carry no label.
• Treat labels as origin information, not fact-checks.
• Verify important claims elsewhere.