The European Union has introduced legislation on AI-generated content, the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, also known as the “AI Act”), which requires this content to be labeled as such and to have ways to easily identify it as AI-generated.

This legislation has been under discussion since around 2024, so it’s not necessarily new, and it came into effect on August 1, 2026.

I won’t go into details, see here and here for more information.

But the main points are:

  • Metadata embedding. Details about who created the content (the LLM model) must be embedded in the final product.
  • Invisible watermark. For media content that should remain even after cropping, compression, or conversion.
  • Bots identified as AI. Where applicable and using AI technology.
  • Visible label and disclosure. AI content must be clearly marked and visible.

To me, these seem like common sense measures. Firstly for transparency and then to try to combat the misinformation produced by AI-generated content.

Since it applies at the EU level and there’s no clear way for AI companies to determine who is from the EU or not, the models will try to make all content comply with these rules, regardless of where the user is from.

What I don’t understand is the reaction of some who condemn this approach. In the sense that “how can models be forced to have ways to identify content generated by them?!”.

Mostly on r/ClaudeAI and r/Anthropic, they seem to be the most affected and bothered by this. 1, 2, 3

There is only one real reason to be upset: if you do minor AI checks on a text or corrections and then you’re afraid it might be marked as AI-generated, even though it was created without AI initially.

But that is exactly one of the exceptions mentioned in the document.

In the end, it seems to me that all those who complain and think it’s not right for their “original” work generated by AI based on their instructions and with input effort to be marked, are the ones who want to hide this and deceive you by omitting these details.

I don’t want to hear the argument:

Well, doesn’t a director do the same thing? They orchestrate everything and don’t do the work themselves!

The difference is that the director is not the only one listed at the end of the film to take all the credit, there’s a whole team from actors, cameramen, sound technicians, wardrobe, makeup, etc.

So why are you ashamed?