Google launches new tool to detect AI images

Called SynthID, the tool embeds a digital watermark directly into the pixels of an image.

Hyderabad: In recent days, there has been a massive increase in AI-generated images, making it difficult to differentiate between real and fake ones. In a bid to combat this, Google launched a watermarking tool that can help identify AI-generated images.

Called SynthID, the tool embeds a digital watermark directly into the pixels of an image. The special code is invisible to the human eye, but detectable for identification, the company shared in a blog post. This makes computers easily spot AI-generated images.

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In partnership with Google Cloud, SynthID is being made available to specific customers who use Vertex AI and a model called Imagen— one of the company’s latest text-to-image models that use input text to create photorealistic images.

“While generative AI can unlock huge creative potential, it also presents new risks, like enabling creators to spread false information — both intentionally or unintentionally,” the blogpost further read. Being able to identify AI-generated content is critical to empowering people with knowledge of when they’re interacting with generated media, and for helping prevent the spread of misinformation,” it added.

According to the blogpost, SynthID remains in place even after modifications, such as adding filters to images, changing their colours, and compressing them. The technology uses two smart systems to do its job— one for adding the watermark and one for identification.

“SynthID isn’t foolproof against extreme image manipulations, but it does provide a promising technical approach for empowering people and organisations to work with AI-generated content responsibly. This tool could also evolve alongside other AI models and modalities beyond imagery such as audio, video, and text,” Google said.

The company further mentioned that it will integrate SynthID into more Google products and make it available to third parties in the near future.