Synthetic media
Synthetic media is the umbrella term for image, sound and video produced or altered by machine. Nobody says it in conversation, but it appears regularly in statutes, platform policies and contracts. Anyone producing advertising meets the term mainly around labelling duties.
Where the term appears
- AI Act: Article 50 has required disclosure for certain produced or altered content since 2 August 2026, particularly deepfakes.
- Platform policies: YouTube, Meta and TikTok require their own declarations for realistic generated content, independently of the law.
- Contracts: clients increasingly add clauses governing or excluding synthetic media.
- Provenance standards: technical methods that record in the file how a piece of content came about.
Why the wording matters
"AI-generated" and "synthetic" get equated but are not the same. A 3D image built on a workstation without any model is synthetic too. Conversely, not every use of AI is generation: automatic noise reduction alters a real recording but produces nothing.
So the labelling question does not turn on the tool but on what the content shows and whether it can be taken for real.
How we handle it
We record per project which tools were used under which licence, and supply the matching notice where one is needed. Where none is needed we still recommend it if the content looks realistic. A notice costs nothing, a later argument does.
Frequently asked questions
What is synthetic media?
Synthetic media are image, audio or video content produced or altered wholly or partly by machine. The term covers AI-generated content as well as conventionally computed material, and appears mainly in legal and platform rules.
Does synthetic media always have to be labelled?
No. What matters is whether the content can deceive. Article 50 of the AI Act targets content showing real or plausibly real people, places or events. A visibly artificial world falls outside it but may still be covered by platform policies.
What is the difference to a deepfake?
A deepfake is a special case of synthetic media: a convincing likeness of a real person. Synthetic media covers everything produced, including content with no person in it.
Related terms
Read on: All terms in the glossary • Terms
Unsure whether your spot needs a label?
We tell you before production what applies and plan the notice into the film.
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