Camera Companies Are Fighting Deepfakes
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As AI-based tools are becoming smarter and more widely used, fake and convincing images are becoming an increasingly big problem. Camera Nikon, Sony Group, and Canon makers are currently fighting back with new technology that can verify the authenticity of photos.
The companies are working on embedding digital signatures in their cameras, which will act as proof of origin and integrity for the images. These signatures will contain information such as the date, time, location, and photographer of the image and will be resistant to alterations.
According to Interesting Engineering, the three photography giants agreed on a global standard for digital signatures compatible with the web-based tool “Verify”. Verify was created by an alliance of global news organizations, technology companies, and camera makers, and will allow anyone to check the credentials of an image for free- and if it was created by AI Verify will flag it as having “No Content Credentials.”
Other companies are also joining the battle against deepfakes, with Google recently releasing a tool that adds invisible digital watermarks to AI-generated pictures, and Intel developing technology that can analyze the skin color changes of subjects in images and use that to determine the image’s authenticity.
This new camera technology is expected to be available in 2024, with Sony releasing it in the spring of 2024, and Canon following suit later that year. Sony reports that it is considering adding the feature to videos, and Canon is developing a similar video technology. Sony is promoting the technology’s adoption in other media outlets and has already field-tested it with The Associated Press. Canon has partnered with Thomson Reuters and the Starling Lab for Data Integrity to develop the technology.
The companies all promote their technology in the hope that it will help restore trust and confidence in images, which are so important and shape our perception of the world.
