The question isn't "was AI involved?" It's "would the image falsely appear authentic?" Article 50(4)'s deepfake duty covers published AI-generated or AI-manipulated image, audio, and video content that resembles real persons, places, objects, or events and would falsely appear to a person to be authentic. Deceptive intent is not required. A perfectly innocent ad with a photorealistic AI "customer" is in scope.
So the line runs through your creative, not your toolchain. A photorealistic AI person drinking your product, a realistic AI street scene, a cloned voice in an audio spot: label. Obviously stylised illustration, cartoon mascots, abstract AI art, fantastical scenes nobody would take for a photograph: outside the duty.
How to label, per the June 2026 Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content: the harmonised "AI" label ("KI" in German, "IA" in French) as an icon in a fixed position on the image, present at every exposure of the content. Not just the first impression, and not stripped when the asset is resized for another placement. For video, an opening disclaimer plus a persistent icon; for audio, a spoken disclaimer at the start, repeated if the piece runs over 30 seconds.
Don't lean on the artistic carve-out here. The attenuated (non-intrusive) disclosure allowed for artistic, satirical, and fictional works expressly does not cover primarily commercial content, and an ad is primarily commercial by definition.
Note the duty here is the deployer-side visible label, separate from the machine-readable marking your image generator's provider must embed under Article 50(2). Using a compliant tool doesn't discharge your labelling duty, and your label doesn't discharge their marking duty. Also keep ordinary advertising law in view: an AI image that misrepresents the product can be an unfair commercial practice regardless of any AI label.
Not sure how this applies to your specific setup? The free 2-minute check tells you which of the four Article 50 duty areas likely apply to your company. No email required.
Take the free check Generate disclosure text