Both papers underscore the urgency for the adoption of international standards in ensuring a future of responsible use of AI. They lay the groundwork ahead of the International AI Standards Summit taking place in Korea this December.

The technical paper offers a comprehensive overview of the current landscape of standards and specifications related to digital media authenticity and artificial intelligence. The policy paper provides regulators and lawmakers with guidance on how to leverage international standards for the effective regulation of the creation, use and dissemination of synthetic multimedia content.

Protecting integrity whilst fostering trust

The papers reflect the common belief of AMAS participants in the need to protect the integrity of information while upholding individual rights and fostering trust in the digital ecosystem. They believe they can achieve this by supporting the development of robust technical standards underpinning regulatory frameworks. There are three aims:

• to ensure users can always identify the provenance of AI-generated and altered content

• to safeguard privacy

• to protect and not to stifle creativity.

Gilles Thonet, IEC Deputy Secretary-General, emphasised the urgency of this work: "International standards provide guardrails for the responsible, safe and trustworthy development of AI, making them invaluable tools for regulators and policymakers worldwide.

As well as offering capacity building and guidance, these white papers lay the foundation for systems that prioritise transparency and human rights by mapping existing standards and highlighting gaps where they are needed to restore trust in AI-generated and multimedia content online”.

Practical, scalable solutions

Silvio Dulinsky, ISO Deputy Secretary-General, highlighted the collaborative imperative: "People need practical, scalable solutions and tools that can equip them to prevent, detect and respond to challenges caused by AI-generated synthetic media. These papers cut through the complexity and offer actionable guidance using international standards, enabling global interoperability”.

Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, underscored the relevance to policymakers and regulators: "As governments navigate new challenges around synthetic media, standards to verify authenticity and provenance will provide them with the technical tools essential to cohesive action internationally”.

Participating organisations in AMAS include IEC, ISO, ITU, the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) and the Internet Engineering Tast Force (IETF). Representing academia and research are Germany’s Frauenhofer institute, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and CAICT, a technology-focused think tank based in China. Also taking part are the authentication specialists, Datatrails and Deep Media, the human rights organisation Witness, and the technology companies Adobe, Microsoft and Shutterstock.

The 2025 International AI Standards Summit will take place from 2-3 December 2025 in Seoul. Led by IEC, ISO and ITU it will bring together key stakeholders and experts from around the world. It will build a strong foundation for AI governance, advancing the work on creating global standards that promote inclusive and responsible AI development.