Google Claims New Search Image Tool Will Detect AI-Generated Fakes: Here's How It Will Work

Google has announced that it will address the problem of AI being used to create fake images. The search giant is offering a new tool that will try and analyze the image and check the authenticity or genuineness of the same

ChatGPT, Dall-E, Bard, and several other Generative AI platforms have recently gained popularity. However, Artificial Intelligence has long been used to generate convincing imagery, called Deepfakes. Let's see how Google is trying to tackle the issue with a new "About this image" feature for its search platform.

Internet Users Desperately Need Image Authentication And Verification Tools

There's no doubt that AI is being used to generate misleading or false information, mainly through cleverly manipulated or artificially generated images and videos. With AI it is exceptionally easy to create fake images.

Often it becomes difficult to differentiate AI-generated images from the real ones. Google cited a study conducted by Poynter in 2022, which claims that 62 percent of users believe they come across misinformation daily or weekly.

Google already offers tools and features on Google Search that help users to check the authenticity of content. They include spotting misinformation online, evaluating the content, and understanding the context of the content better.

Google recently mentioned that "it's equally important to evaluate visual content that you come across." To help identify fake images, the company is now offering a new tool called "About this image" for its search platform. The search giant claims the tool can tell the difference between a genuine image and a fake one.

How Will Google's "About This Image" Feature Help Identify Fake Images Generated By AI?

Google is the biggest search engine provider. Google search is used for billions of searches each day. Needless to say, the search giant crawls through millions of websites and archives content.

Google's "About This Image" will rely on this vast and continually updated database to check the image for its authenticity and genuineness. The tool will be able to tell when the image and similar images were first indexed by Google.

The "About This Image" feature will also indicate where the image may have first appeared and where else it's been seen online. Users will be able to confirm the authenticity of these images with this background information.

Google has further assured that every one of the AI-generated images that have been created using its own platforms will have a markup in the original file. This should give users context if they come across third-party platforms.

The company has also assured that creators and publishers will also be able to add similar markups, so that users can see a label in images in Google Search, marking them as AI-generated.

It is not immediately clear how, but Google has further claimed that users can see similar markups from multiple other AI-based Generative AI platforms such as Midjourney, Shutterstock, and more in the near future.

How To Use the "About This Image" Feature To Spot An AI-Generated Fake?

The "About This Image" feature will be a part of Google Search. In other words, it will gradually become a core component and will be available in nearly all Google products that have the search function.

The new feature can be accessed by clicking the three dots on an image in Google Images results. Users can access the feature even while searching with an image or screenshot in Google Lens. Essentially, this feature can be used for any image that Google Search users come across and intend to learn more about the same.

Google will also add the "About This Image" feature to the Chrome web browser. Once added, users will be able to use it by right-clicking an image on a desktop or long-tapping it on a smartphone.

The feature will initially be available only to users in the US and will support the English language. Google should gradually add more regions and languages in the future.