Google on Thursday announced that effective this week, it will begin adding a digital watermark to images in Photos that are edited with generative AI. The watermark applies specifically to images that are altered using the Reimagine feature found in Magic Editor on Pixel 9 devices.
Announced in 2024, Reimagine utilizes generative AI to alter aspects of a digital photo. Like other Magic Editor features, it’s designed for touching up images shot on-device. That use of AI has opened Reimagine up to far more dramatic image edits, blurring the line between digital photos and fully AI-generated shots.
As generative AI images grow increasingly lifelike, digital advocates have called for a universal method to help the public determine whether a photo was created out of whole cloth. Digital watermarking is often floated as a potential solution, as it can be added to a file without directly altering the image itself.
Google will be using SynthID to mark relevant images. Created by Google’s DeepMind division, the feature “embeds a digital watermark directly into AI-generated content, without compromising the original content.” SynthID can also be used to scan images for potential watermarks. The feature, which is currently in beta, also works with AI-generated text and video files.
Users can also click into “About this Image” to locate digital watermarks within a photo’s metadata.
Google adds that certain edits may not trigger the use of SynthID. “In some cases, edits made using Reimagine may be too small for SynthID to label and detect — like if you change the color of a small flower in the background of an image,” it writes.
The feature’s deployment is part of a larger effort to make AI editing more transparent within Google Photos. The company cites its published AI principles as the guiding light for such decision-making.
