Google outlines a plan to let users identify AI generated images on Search

Google Search to help in identifying AI-generated images: Google will soon roll out a set of features on Google Search that will enable users to identify if an image has been created or modified using artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools. The company today announced that in the coming months, it will introduce a feature called 'About this Image' in Search that will help users in identifying if an image was created or edited with AI tools.

It is worth noting that the company had first announced the About this Image' feature for Search in July this year. At the time, the company had said that the feature, in addition to showing how other sites may have used the image, will show the image's metadata to users. This metadata will share details about the creator of the image and how that image may have been created. At the moment, Google Search shows how other sites have used the image.

The announcement comes as Google , along with other steering members of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) alliance, have released version 2.1 of the technical standard for Content Credentials. Content Credentials coupled with a forthcoming C2PA True List will help platforms such as Google Search to identify and confirm the origin of an image.

"For example, if the data shows an image was taken by a specific camera model, the trust list helps validate that this piece of information is accurate," Google wrote in a blog post.

These features will be backed the Provenance technology that has been developed by the members of the C2PA. "Provenance technology can help explain whether a photo was taken with a camera, edited by software or produced by generative AI," the company added.

In addition to Google Search, Google will also integrate C2PA metadata in all its ad systems. "Our goal is to ramp this up over time and use C2PA signals to inform how we enforce key policies," the company added.

Additionally, Google said that it is also exploring ways to share the C2PA information to viewers on YouTube. This will help viewers in identifying when content is captured with a camera.