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Google, on February 6, announced that its Photos app—Google Photos—will begin using SynthID to mark AI-manipulated images. This technology adds an invisible watermark to images edited in Google Photos using AI tools like Magic Editor.
Google has already been using SynthID to mark images generated by its image-generation models, such as Imagen. Now, the company is expanding the use of SynthID to Google Photos to help users identify AI-generated content.
SynthID allows Google to embed an imperceptible digital watermark not only in AI-generated images but also in AI-generated audio, text, and video. Users can check whether an image has been generated or modified using AI in Google Photos by accessing the “About this image” section.
Google’s SynthID technology can detect AI-generated and AI-modified content without compromising quality or creative output. Depending on the type of content, it employs different techniques to watermark AI-generated or AI-edited media.
Listed under the AI info section, Google Photos will also provide credit to the AI source (e.g., “Edited with Google AI”) and specify that the image has been edited using generative AI.
This means there will be no visible watermark. Instead, SynthID will update the image metadata to indicate AI manipulation, whereas Samsung applies a visible watermark when an image is modified using Galaxy AI.
Currently, Google Photos can only detect and mark images manipulated within the app. It does not yet have the capability to identify whether an image has been edited using other AI-based photo editing applications.
