AI generated images can now checked and verified by detection software.
However, C2PA argues that detectors aren’t sufficiently effective; the winner of a Meta deepfake-detection challenge identified generated content only 65 percent of the time.
Top AI companies committed to developing their own watermarking mechanisms, but they haven’t settled on Content Credentials or another standard.
Why it matters:
Distinguishing generated text, imagery, and audio from media that accurately depicts real-world events is a key challenge for the generative AI era.
The coming year will test that ability as 78 countries gear up elections that will affect roughly half the world’s population. Already, campaigns have used generated imagery in Argentina, New Zealand, South Korea, the United States, and other nations.
Google and Meta responded by tightening restrictions on political advertisers’ use of generative AI. The EU’s AI Act will require clear labeling of AI-generated media, and the U.S. Federal Election Commission plans to restrict ads that depict political opponents saying or doing things they did not actually say or do.
If Content Credentials proves effective in the coming election season, it may ease the larger problem of identifying generated media in a variety of venues where authenticity is important.
We’re thinking:
A robust watermark can identify both traditional and AI-generated media for users and algorithms to treat accordingly. It can also potentially settle claims that a doctored image was authentic or that authentic work was doctored.
However, we worry that watermarking generated outputs may prove to be a disadvantage in the market, creating a disincentive for makers of software tools to provide it and users to use it.
With heavyweight members from both tech and media, C2PA may be able to build sufficient momentum behind the watermarking to make it stick.
To learn and know more about C2PA, register for this event today.
