Soon you will be able to find out in Google Search whether an image was generated by AI or not. Google uses C2PA authentication for this.

Google plans to release technology that can determine whether a photo was taken with a camera, edited with software, or generated by AI. This technology will be introduced in the form of an “About this image” feature that appears in search results. Google uses a system that is part of the Coalition for content origin and authenticity (C2PA). The tool will appear in Google Search and Google Ads in the coming months, but better interoperability with other parties is needed to realize its full potential.

C2PA standard

Google’s system is part of the Coalition for content origin and authenticity (C2PA). The C2PA, together with other major technology companies, sets technical standards for the origin of digital content. In addition to Google, Amazon, OpenAI, Intel, Microsoft and Adobe also support C2PA authentication. Google helped develop the latest C2PA technical standard (version 2.1).

If an image contains C2PA metadata, users can use the “About this image” feature to find out if it was created using AI tools. This gives users more context about the image. Google will be rolling out this latest version of Content Credentials to Google Search and Google Ads in the coming months. The tool will be available in Google Images, Lens, and Circle to Search.

Interoperability

Although Google has adopted the C2PA authentication standard, it only has a real chance of success if there is large-scale cooperation. Only a few cameras support the open technical standard C2PA, which adds metadata to the image. The mechanism only has a real chance of success once interoperability with all hardware and software is perfect.