How does the 'AI watermark' promoted by Microsoft and Adobe work?



Tech companies including Microsoft, Adobe, and Intel have announced that they will add metadata to their AI-generated images so that future apps can identify them. Each company is planning to introduce an icon that says 'CR' in common, but technology news media The Register explains what this icon is and how it works. .

Content Credentials

https://contentcredentials.org/

Microsoft and Adobe push new symbol to label AI images • The Register
https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/15/microsoft_adobe_ai_watermark/

The icons below were developed by the standards organization Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), and the letters CR stand for ' Content Credentials .' This credential can be attached to content by the content author.



Content creators can add information such as the creator, alternative text, and whether AI is used as metadata as content authentication information. Anyone can view this information by clicking the CR icon, but in order to do so, an application that supports CR icon display is required.



When you view content that has been given authentication information in a compatible application, a CR icon will be displayed above the content. In the example below, the CR icon is displayed at the top right of the image.



On the other hand, the CR icon will not be displayed for applications that do not support it. This may mean that the icon is not displayed, but the metadata may still be recorded, so you can verify the authentication information by uploading a file to

the page that verifies content authentication information .



Content credentials can be attached in three ways: attached directly to each file, uploaded to the Content Credentials cloud, or both.

If you attach directly to a file, the information is less resilient and metadata may be lost when the content is shared.

Content Credentials cloud is a cloud for verifying credentials and will be managed by multiple providers. When content is published through the cloud, even if the metadata is later lost, it is said that the original content can be found and restored using a mechanism similar to image search. For example, Adobe manages the Content Credentials cloud as 'public persistent storage for content credentials separate from the cloud file storage included in Adobe plans.'



The Register says, ``While this specification is impressive, it relies on applications supporting metadata. In addition, it is not possible for someone to strip the metadata or export the file to another format without metadata.'' 'It is also true that images can be distributed without credentials by taking screenshots from applications that do not display symbols.'

Microsoft, Adobe, and others mentioned in their statements that future AI-generated applications will automatically provide credentials. Since both companies are involved in the launch of C2PA, we can see that they are actively recruiting and trying to spread it around the world. In fact, these efforts will only work if a large number of applications can display credentials. Arm and Intel are also involved in the launch of C2PA, and Sony, Canon, and Panasonic are also participating as members.

Microsoft is working to display the CR icon in its own image generation AI service, Bing Image Creator. Publicis Groupe, a French advertising company, and camera manufacturers Leica and Nikon have also said they will be involved in C2PA authentication information.



The Register says, 'If the CR icon becomes as ubiquitous as the copyright mark, C2PA's efforts may be accomplished. It's definitely a step in the right direction, but it's still far from a comprehensive solution. It's a long way off. So far, adoption has been limited to a few large companies. More platforms, including generative AI developers, social media, app makers, and publishers, need to effectively support it. There is a need.”

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