YouTube AI Labels Do Not Cut Monetization; Omissions Can

Disclose AI use when a YouTube video makes a real person appear to say or do something they did not, changes footage of a real event or place, or presents a realistic scene that never occurred. Under YouTube’s GenAI disclosure rules, the requirement applies to partially generated videos as well as fully generated ones. Consistently failing to make a required disclosure can lead to a manually applied label, content removal or suspension from the YouTube Partner Program.

AI help with a script, thumbnail or captions generally needs no declaration; AI-generated music does. The YouTube label update states that a disclosure label alone does not change how a video is recommended or whether it is eligible to earn money. The decision turns on the media in the finished upload, not the number of AI tools used to make it.

Decide from what viewers will see and hear

Ask whether a generated or altered element could reasonably be taken as a record of a real person, place or event. A convincing insert can require disclosure even when the rest of the footage was filmed normally. The same test applies when an edit changes the apparent meaning of genuine footage, such as making a person seem to give advice they never gave.

Minor edits serve a different purpose. Color correction, lighting filters, upscaling and audio repair can improve a recording without changing what happened in it. A clearly fantastical animation also falls outside the realistic-content examples. But calling an edit a repair does not settle the question if the result makes someone appear to have said or done something they did not.

A yes-or-no matrix for common production choices

No — scripts and outlines: Brainstorming, drafting or improving the words used in a video is production assistance. If the finished video also contains a realistic generated scene, assess that scene separately.
No — thumbnails: AI assistance with a thumbnail does not, by itself, trigger the video’s AI-use disclosure. A generated image or clip placed inside the video needs its own assessment.
No — captions and routine repair: Creating captions, sharpening or upscaling footage, and repairing recorded audio are examples of assistance or minor edits. The boundary changes if an edit alters the apparent facts rather than the recording’s quality.
No for your own voice; yes for fabricated speech by another real person: Cloning your own voice for a voiceover or dub is an exempt example. Making someone else appear to say words they never said meets the disclosure test.
Yes — AI-generated music: Generated music is expressly included among the disclosure examples. Its status does not depend on adding synthetic images to the video.
Yes — realistic scenes that never occurred: Examples include generated footage of a surfer at a real Maui location and a realistic match between real professional tennis players. Both could be mistaken for footage of an actual event.
Yes — meaningfully altered real events: Disclose an edit that changes footage of a real event or place in a way that misrepresents what occurred. Ordinary color or lighting adjustments remain minor edits.
Automatically disclosed — YouTube’s own generative tools: For a Short or post made with these tools, the Shorts AI tools guidance says the tool makes the disclosure for the creator, with no extra disclosure step.

A mixed-production video can fit several rows. If a script and captions were AI-assisted but the video also contains a believable event that never happened, the generated event makes the answer Yes. The disclosure describes the finished media, rather than every production task behind it.

Choose the setting during upload

In YouTube Studio, follow the upload steps to the Attributes section. Under AI use, select Yes when the video meets the disclosure requirement or No when it does not, then continue with the other video details. The setting is available in Studio on a computer or mobile device.

Selecting No does not mean that no AI touched the project. It can accurately describe an upload that used AI only for an outline, captions, routine restoration or a dub made with the creator’s own cloned voice. Select Yes when qualifying generated or meaningfully altered content appears in the finished video, even if it occupies only a short segment.

What viewers see, and where the financial risk lies

For photorealistic or meaningfully altered content, the prominent label appears below the player on long-form videos and as an overlay on Shorts. A disclosure for unrealistic, animated or slightly altered content may instead appear in the expanded description. These placements give viewers context about what they are watching.

The label itself leaves recommendation treatment and earning eligibility unchanged. That is a statement about the effect of disclosing AI use, not a guarantee of views or revenue: the content remains subject to the platform’s other rules. The disclosure policy identifies consistent failure to declare qualifying media as the conduct that may bring a manually applied label, removal or Partner Program suspension; it does not specify an automatic penalty for selecting Yes.

Correct an automatic label

An AI label can also be applied automatically to content made with YouTube’s generative tools, content carrying C2PA metadata or content detected by internal systems as AI-generated or altered. If a label appears automatically on or below the player, the creator receives a notification in YouTube Studio. An internal detection label can be applied when the AI-use answer was left unspecified and the systems identify significant photorealistic AI use.

If that detection is wrong, open the affected video’s AI disclosure survey under Attributes in Studio and select No; this correction is available in most cases. The Studio notification remains until the survey is updated. Disclosures attached to content made with YouTube’s AI tools, content containing C2PA metadata or content labeled after manual review cannot be changed through that setting.