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Google recently announced a new feature to combat misinformation on its image search engine. “About this image” provides helpful context to help you determine if the image or its source is authentic. With AI-generated imaging getting wider adoption, the problem of online misinformation has only gotten worse, and the feature will specifically identify AI images.
How “About this image” works
According to the official press release, the new tool will roll out to users in the U.S. in the coming months. At least initially, it will only be available in English. The feature provides information about when the image first appeared online, where Google first saw it, and which other sites have published it since.
With that context, you can better understand an image’s authenticity. For example, if news or fact-checking outlets have already debunked an image, those articles will appear when you tap “About this image .” It basically lets you research and fact-check an image with minimal effort.
You can access “About this image” from the three-dot menu on the image result. It works on Google Lens and the Google app. Later this year, it will also roll out for mobile and desktop versions of Chrome. On Chrome, it will pop up on a right-click or long-press.
AI images will include disclaimer labels
Google also announced that moving forward, it will make it easy to identify images generated using its AI platform. The AI-generated images will feature visible labels describing them as such. Each image will have a markup in its original file containing all relevant context you can easily access. The labels will show up even if you view the generation outside Google’s platform. The marking will read “AI-generated with Google” right under the image.
In the coming months, image creators and platforms like Midjourney and Shutterstock have also volunteered to self-label their AI-generated images in a similar way. “Image self-labeled as AI generated” will sit under the image title when it’s searched on Google. More creators will apparently join the self-labeling project in the coming months. The move should make the generative image technology more transparent on the whole.
With the proposed self-labeling and the “About this image” tool, Google is expanding its ongoing media literacy project with more visual elements. Both features will help people filter out unreliable images in an increasingly confusing online world. The added summary of where the image originated, its timeline, and what others have said about it will help people verify sources and make more informed judgments about what they’re reading.
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