Google has announced that Google Photos will begin using SynthID to mark images edited with generative AI through the Reimagine feature in Magic Editor.
What is SynthID?
SynthID is a digital watermarking technology that embeds an imperceptible identifier into AI-generated content, including images, audio, text, and video.
According to Google, this watermark does not affect image or video quality and remains detectable even after cropping, color adjustments, or compression.
How SynthID Works
Vertex AI customers are already using this watermarking technology in Imagen 3 and Imagen 2, Google’s text-to-image models that generate high-quality visuals in various artistic styles. SynthID can detect these watermarks in both images and video frames.
Last year, Google extended this technology to images created with ImageFX and videos generated using Veo, its AI video-generation model.
About This Image Feature
Users can verify whether an image—or a part of it—was AI-generated using the “About this image” feature, available in Google Search and Chrome.
While SynthID is designed to be highly effective, Google notes that minor modifications—such as changing the color of a small element—may go undetected.
The tool provides deeper insights into AI-generated content, including:
- Usage Across the Web: Discover how and where an image appears, along with contextual descriptions from various sources.
- Metadata Details: View information about the image’s creation, although metadata can be altered.
- Digital Watermark Verification: Check whether an image contains a SynthID watermark.
This feature supports 40 languages and is available in Circle to Search for select Android devices and Google Lens within the Google app for Android and iOS.
Availability
The integration of SynthID with Reimagine in Magic Editor in Google Photos begins this week.
Announcing the availability, Google posted:
We’ll continue gathering feedback and evaluating additional solutions for our users while exploring more ways to enhance transparency around AI-generated edits in Google Photos.