Google Photos Will Now Add Labels to Images Edited Using AI Tools

Google Photos will add a label about AI edits as per the guidelines of the International Press Telecommunications Council.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 25 October 2024 14:33 IST

Google Photos Will Now Add Labels to Images Edited Using AI Tools

Photo Credit: Google

Google Photos will also add labels for Pixel-specific features such as Best Take and Add Me

Highlights

Google Photos will add AI labels in the metadata of the images
The label will be added if Magic Editor or Magic Eraser is used
The move is aimed at preventing the spread of misinformation

Google Photos announced the introduction of specific labels to highlight if an image has been edited using artificial intelligence (AI) tools on Thursday. The Mountain View-based tech giant will start including this information within the metadata of the images to let anyone easily check whether the image was made using synthetic methods. Apart from indicating AI-edited images, Google Photos will also highlight if an image has been composed of multiple photos using non-generative tools. The latter will be used in the case of Pixel-specific features such as Best Take and Add Me.

Google Photos to Add AI Labels to Images

In a blog post, the company detailed its new transparency feature. These AI labels will only be added to images that have been edited using AI tools in Google Photos such as Magic Editor and Magic Eraser. However, the company has not highlighted if it will also label images edited using third-party AI tools.

With this implementation, whenever a user enhances an image using AI tools within the app, Google will add this information to the metadata of the photo file. A benefit of this is that the metadata information cannot be removed even if an image is cropped or blurred, the label will still exist. However, this will not be useful in case a screenshot of the image is taken as it will generate new Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) file data.

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The tech giant is following the technical standards from The International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) to add the AI information in the metadata. This is different from the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) standard which is used by Meta and OpenAI.

Alongside the metadata, Google is also making this information visible in file information that can be viewed directly in the Photos app. This information will be added at the bottom of the page titled “AI Info”. This will include credits to the tool that was used to edit the image as well as a “Digital Source Type” which will highlight whether generative AI or some other method was used to edit the image.

Even the images that have been edited sophistically without the use of generative AI, such as the Best Take or Add Me feature in compatible Pixel devices, the label will add specific information about it.

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Further reading: Google Photos, AI, Artificial Intelligence, AI Labels, Apps

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More