Short-form video social media platform, TikTok, has laid off hundreds of its staff in a major shift towards AI-assisted content moderation.
According to reports, the social media giant owned by China-based ByteDance, said on Friday 11 October that it was laying off some of its staff, with a significant number from Malaysia.
Shifting towards AI
TikTok is a social media giant with over 1 billion monthly users. The platform has faced several legal battles due to the nature of its content, which regulators allege is not properly moderated for minors.
With such pressures mounting from different countries, TikTok seems to be taking responsibility by opting for AI-driven content moderation to improve efficiency. According to a spokesperson for the company,
“We expect to invest $2 billion globally in trust and safety in 2024 alone and are continuing to improve the efficacy of our efforts, with 80% of violative content now removed by automated technologies.”
Until now, TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance had 110,000 employees globally, many of which have been manually engaged in content moderation alongside automated moderation.
The current move is probably the first step towards leaning more on AI and eventually phasing out manual moderation.
Which platform is next?
The shift towards AI is a widespread one, with businesses in different industries embracing the technology to improve efficiency and reduce the cost of paid labor.
In the social media space, TikTok may have set a precedent that more social platforms may in no time. The question is, which social platform will be next?
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Whatsapp, and Instagram, has faced similar legal battles to those of TikTok, with regulators imposing huge fines.
Although Meta has an AI arm, it hasn’t deployed the technology in its social media platforms in the way that displaces workers yet.
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