Meaningful changes, not every slider
YouTube and others have been pushing creators to disclose photorealistic or meaningfully altered media: synthetic people, fake events, voice clones, face swaps. A color grade, a caption, or a cut is ordinary editing. A video that puts words in a real person’s mouth is not.
When you are unsure, disclose. The label is cheaper than a community that thinks you tried to trick them. Platform toggles move. Use the upload screen’s own question, not a memory of a blog post.
- Disclose: realistic AI people, cloned voices, altered real events, face swaps.
- Usually fine without a label: captions, noise removal, a title brainstorm, a crop.
- Translations and dubs: say so when the voice is not the original speaker.
- If a brand deal forbids undisclosed synthetic media, follow the contract.