Building trust in AI-generated media

By Alessandra Sala, Chair of the AI and Multimedia Authenticity Standards Collaboration

Today, artificial intelligence (AI) can create, alter, remix and distribute images, video, audio and text at unprecedented speeds and scale. AI-generated and AI-edited media have become an everyday part modern communication.

For creators, this opens exciting new frontiers of expression.

For audiences, institutions, and societies, however, it raises urgent questions: What is authentic? What has been altered? Who is responsible? And how can trust in authenticity travel seamlessly across platforms, borders, and legal systems?

The AI and Multimedia Authenticity Standards Collaboration has just launched two new reports to help answer these very questions.

Our newly released Policy paper on the emerging legal landscape for generative AI across different regions provides a clearer picture of how governments are responding to synthetic media and where legal and policy approaches are beginning to converge. Simultaneously, our updated Technical standards paper strengthens the foundation for global interoperability, implementation, and responsible innovation.

Explore the group’s publications

This work is entering an exciting new phase.

Our collaboration is led through the World Standards Cooperation – a strategic partnership of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

This AI and multimedia group brings together standards developers, technology companies, policymakers, researchers, civil society organizations, and cross-disciplinary experts.

Together, we are deeply committed to strengthening digital integrity, shedding light on the risks of deepfakes and misinformation, and supporting the positive, responsible evolution of AI.

Bridging generations and disciplines

Over the past year, our members have continued to advance a shared international agenda for multimedia authenticity. This critical work has focused on three closely connected, balanced priorities:

• International policy alignment: Advancing global discussions to reflect and harmonize emerging legal and regulatory approaches across different regions.

• Technical interoperability: Collaborating across technical standards initiatives to support greater clarity, seamless integration, and widespread industry adoption.

• The Young Research Programme: A student-led innovation programme designed to inject fresh, AI-native perspectives into the design of our digital fabric, showcasing practical tools that build real-world trust. Learn more.

Together, these efforts mark an important shift: moving away from simply identifying the problem and toward dynamically tracking evolving standards and policy directives. We are building practical pathways for governments, platforms, creators, and users to take meaningful action.

This challenge cannot be solved by detection tools or regulation alone. It requires a coordinated ecosystem that spans technical standards, policy frameworks, rights protection, platform responsibility, and public trust. By asking highly practical questions, these young researchers are helping us close critical gaps: How will users make decisions? How will platforms communicate authenticity? How can AI safely support human judgment?

Media literacy: A critical preventative safeguard

As generative AI makes synthetic media increasingly realistic and persuasive, technology alone is not enough. Media literacy has emerged as an urgent, vital safeguard against digital manipulation. Crucially, it supports freedom of expression by promoting informed, critical engagement rather than relying solely on enforcement and takedowns.

Media literacy should be recognized as a formal cornerstone of AI and deepfake legislation. It perfectly complements technical tools like labelling, watermarking, and provenance systems by empowering everyday users to understand, question, and verify the digital content they consume.

By equipping individuals with the skills to navigate synthetic media responsibly, we build a resilient public square. Mitigating digital risks requires both robust technical infrastructure and an informed society capable of critical thought.

The path forward: A collaborative digital era

These efforts are connected by a foundational principle: Digital trust must be built collaboratively. No single government, company, standards body, or technology can address the authenticity challenge in isolation. Because our global information ecosystem is fast-moving and deeply interconnected, our response must be equally unified.

As AI continues to evolve, we will remain dedicated to shaping standards that support innovation while protecting fundamental rights. We invite you to join us on this journey as we expand our work, deepen our partnerships, and advance the tools that will define authenticity in the AI era.