Apps like Halfway through the journey lets you create AI art, but some even use AI to manipulate their real camera photos. Whether you find that acceptable or not is up to you. However, Sony recognizes the dangers of this and wants to combat the ever-increasing presence of AI photos. The company wants to ensure that a distinguish between real photos and AI-generated (or manipulated) photos keeps existing.
Sony has entered into a partnership for this purpose The Associated Press (AP), a non-profit news agency in the US, together with Camera bits, a software company that created Photo Mechanic. Together they confirmed that ‘a second round of testing‘ has been completed for Sony authenticity technology in the camera.
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Aimed at essentially creating a ‘birth certificate for images,’This in-camera authenticity technology involves having a digital signature on the image. This makes photo verification a very simple process. Sony describes its new technology as ‘an extra layer of security‘ and aims to help news agencies ‘in their fight against fake images‘.
“Fake and manipulated images are a major concern for news organizations. They not only contribute to mis- and disinformation, but ultimately undermine public confidence in factual, accurate images,” – David Ake, AP Director of Photography.
Additionally, Sony has worked with Camera Bits to ensure that these photos can be edited with the digital signature intact. The Photo mechanic software we mentioned is actually a commonly used tool in the photography industry. Even after all metadata operations in the photo, the digital signature is retained. So despite edits, news organizations should be able to easily verify an image’s authenticity. This is a big win for photojournalism!
Sony’s President Neal Manowitz is increasingly concerned about the impact of ‘altered or manipulated images in journalism.’ It looks like these will be successfully addressed, following Sony’s newly added security feature to its cameras. Photos created by AI will persist no matter what. But when it comes to real life events, especially sensitive ones, authentic human photojournalism is required.
Three cameras from Sony: Alpha 9 III, Alpha 1 and Alpha 7S III, all receive firmware updates Spring 2024 that will enable these authentication technologies.
What do you think of Sony’s new addition, which helps combat growing concerns about AI-manipulated photos? Do you find the new security feature useful? Let us know in the comments below.
