What is AIGC (AI-Generated Content)?

AIGC stands for AI-generated content: any text, image, audio, video, or code produced by a generative model rather than authored directly by a person. The term originated in Chinese-language technology writing, where it became the standard label for the category, and spread into English usage as the tools went mainstream.

It sits alongside two adjacent terms that are often confused with it. Generative AI names the underlying technology — the models and systems capable of producing output. AIGC names the output itself. AGC, or algorithmically generated content, is the older and broader term covering anything a program assembled, including template-filled pages that involve no model at all. The distinction matters most in regulatory and platform-policy contexts, where obligations attach to the content rather than to the tool: China's measures on generative AI services, the EU AI Act's transparency provisions, and the labelling rules operated by TikTok, Meta, and YouTube all describe duties that follow the published asset. For marketers the practical consequence is that disclosure requirements depend on what a piece of content depicts and claims — synthetic imagery of a product is treated differently from a synthetic testimonial attributed to a customer who does not exist.