Ofcom has launched a formal consultation on proposals that would require UK broadcasters and video-on-demand platforms to label content generated or materially altered by artificial intelligence. The regulator’s discussion paper, published on Thursday, sets out a framework under which television programmes, streaming content, and digital radio broadcasts would carry standardised disclosures whenever AI tools have been used in production, scripting, or post-production.
The consultation follows growing concern among policymakers and audience advocacy groups about the speed at which generative AI is being adopted across the media sector. A survey conducted by the Media Research Partnership in June found that 68 per cent of UK adults believed they had encountered AI-generated or AI-assisted content in the past six months, but only 14 per cent felt confident they could reliably distinguish it from wholly human-produced material.
Dame Eleanor Cross, who chaired the independent working group that fed into the Ofcom proposals, described the labelling framework as a proportionate first step. “This is not about restricting innovation. The UK creative industries have always been early adopters of new tools. It is about ensuring that audiences can exercise informed choice. A viewer watching a documentary that uses AI to reconstruct historical events has a reasonable expectation of being told that is the case,” she said.
The proposed rules would apply a three-tier labelling system: Level A for content where AI played a minor assistive role, such as automated colour grading or audio cleanup; Level B for content containing AI-generated elements alongside human-created material; and Level C for fully AI-generated or AI-scripted content. Broadcasters would be required to display a standardised icon and brief text disclosure at the start of affected programmes and in electronic programme guides.
Industry reaction has been broadly supportive, though some production companies have raised concerns about the administrative burden the labelling requirements could impose on smaller independents. Pact, the trade association representing independent production companies, welcomed the consultation but urged Ofcom to ensure that compliance costs did not disproportionately affect smaller operators.
The consultation will run for twelve weeks, with a final policy statement expected in early 2027. If adopted, the UK would become one of the first countries to implement mandatory AI content labelling across its entire broadcast ecosystem.