Altered or synthetic content on YouTube: when to disclose it

YouTube asks you to disclose altered or synthetic content when a video looks real and has been generated or significantly altered with AI: if it looks as though a real person is doing or saying something they did not do or say, if footage of a real event or place has been altered, if realistic scenes that did not happen have been generated or if music that is the central element of the video has been created. It is not needed when the content is clearly unrealistic, when the changes are minor or when AI has only helped with production, for example with the script or thumbnails. You disclose it when uploading the video in YouTube Studio, in the “AI use” section.

When you have to disclose it

YouTube's official help page “Disclosing use of GenAI content” explains it with one central idea: users want to know whether what they see or hear is real. That is why it asks creators to tell the audience when they use AI to significantly modify or generate photorealistic content. The four cases it lists are these:

• If it looks as though a real person is doing or saying something they did not do or say.
• If footage of a real event or place has been altered.
• If realistic scenes that did not actually happen have been generated.
• If music that is the central element of the video has been created.

The content may have been created or altered with AI wholly or partly. Among its examples of content that requires the disclosure are an AI-generated version of a real place in a tourism promo video, a realistic depiction of a tornado approaching a real city when that is not true, and manipulating content so that it looks as though someone gave advice they never gave.

When it is not needed

The same page says creators do not have to disclose when AI-created content is not realistic or when the changes to realistic content are minor. Among its examples of what does not require the disclosure:

• Not realistic: someone riding a unicorn through a fantasy world.
• Minor changes: beauty filters, colour or lighting adjustments, blurring the background.
• Production assistance: using generative AI tools to create or improve outlines, scripts, thumbnails, titles or infographics, captioning and brainstorming.
• Voice and sound: cloning your own voice to create voice-overs or dubbing, or improving video sharpness or audio quality.

YouTube warns that neither list is exhaustive. If you are in doubt, ask yourself whether anyone could believe that what they see or hear really happened: the page gives as an example of a minor change one that is mainly aesthetic and does not transform the content in a way that could confuse users about real events.

How to mark it in YouTube Studio

1. Go to YouTube Studio and follow the steps to upload the video.
2. In the “Attributes” section, under “AI use”, select “Yes” if your content meets the disclosure requirements or “No” if it does not.
3. Continue with the rest of the video details.

If you select “Yes”, YouTube adds a label to the video. It may appear in the expanded description and, for photorealistic content, in the player as well. YouTube may also apply the label automatically to content created with its generative AI tools, to content that contains C2PA metadata and to content that its internal systems detect as generated or altered with AI. If its systems get it wrong, in most cases you can correct it in the “Attributes” questionnaire, but not for content made with its tools, content that contains C2PA metadata or content labelled after a manual review.

What happens if you do not disclose it

According to the help page, creators who consistently choose not to disclose this information may have a label applied manually by YouTube or face penalties such as removal of their content or suspension from the YouTube Partner Program. The Community Guidelines apply equally to AI-generated or AI-altered content.

On the other hand, declaring it does not penalise you: the page itself clarifies that acknowledging that content was generated with AI does not limit the video's audience or affect monetisation. If you want to go deeper into that last point, we cover it in can you monetise a channel made with AI?

What the European AI Regulation adds

On top of YouTube's policy, in the European Union Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 provides, in Article 50(4), that deployers of an AI system that generates or manipulates image, audio or video content constituting a deep fake (ultrasuplantación in the Spanish text) shall disclose that the content has been artificially generated or manipulated.

• Deep fake is, according to the regulation itself, AI-generated or manipulated image, audio or video content that resembles existing persons, objects, places, entities or events and would falsely appear to a person to be authentic or truthful.
• Deployer is whoever uses an AI system under their own authority, except where its use is part of a personal non-professional activity.
• Creative works: where the content forms part of an evidently creative, satirical, artistic, fictional or analogous work or programme, the obligation is limited to disclosing the existence of that content in an appropriate manner that does not hamper the display or enjoyment of the work.

Article 50 is in Chapter IV of the regulation, which is not among the exceptions in its Article 113: it applies from the general date, 2 August 2026. Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 of 8 July 2026, which amended it, recalls that same date as the general date of application. That 2026 regulation also gives providers of systems that generate synthetic content and were on the market before 2 August 2026 until 2 December 2026 to comply with their part: marking the outputs in a machine-readable format.

If your channel is a professional activity or a company's and you are unsure whether a particular video falls under these cases, consult a legal professional.

Practical cases for an AI-made channel

• Educational video with clearly stylised illustrations. If nothing looks real, YouTube's policy does not ask for the disclosure: unrealistic content is among its examples of what does not need to be disclosed.
• Realistic recreation of a historical event with generated images. This is realistic content generated with AI, and YouTube asks you to disclose the use of AI if the content is realistic.
• A real person saying something they did not say. It requires the disclosure on YouTube. In addition, if the imitation of their appearance or voice is realistic, the person affected can ask YouTube to remove it on privacy grounds.
• A script written with AI help and narrated in your own voice. This is production assistance: it does not require the disclosure.

For the full workflow of an AI video, there is how to make YouTube videos with AI, step by step, and for the final stage, the checklist for publishing a video on YouTube.

How the Estudio de Canales prepares it

The Estudio de Canales records for each asset in a video whether it was generated with AI. When the video includes any, the upload package comes out with the altered or synthetic content notice already ticked and the description says so. The final decision is yours when you upload: if you remove the tick while there are AI assets, the studio reminds you that YouTube asks for it when the content is realistic, and the “ready to publish” check also warns you if there are undeclared AI assets. The studio does not publish to your channel by itself: you upload the package yourself in YouTube Studio. YouTube is a trademark of Google LLC, and this studio is not sponsored or endorsed by YouTube.

Sources consulted

Checked on 9 October 2026. We link to the original source so that you can consult the current text.

• Avisar sobre el uso de contenido generado por IA. YouTube (Google LLC) · Centro de Ayuda.
• Directrices de privacidad de YouTube. YouTube (Google LLC) · Centro de Ayuda.
• Reglamento (UE) 2024/1689, de 13 de junio de 2024, de inteligencia artificial. DOUE (BOE).
• Reglamento (UE) 2026/1744, de 8 de julio de 2026 (Ómnibus digital sobre IA). DOUE (BOE).