Nikon working on new camera tech to distinguish its images from AI fakes

Japanese camera maker Nikon is working on a new technology that will authenticate images on its cameras, helping to distinguish them from sophisticated AI fakes.

“We are working on the technology with a partner to ensure the authenticity and originality of images,” Sajjan Kumar, Managing Director of Nikon India, told indianexpress.com at the launch of the company’s Z6 III camera in Delhi. Without elaborating on who the partner is or when the company plans to roll out the technology, Kumar said this will help determine if an image was taken by a Nikon camera or not.

Kumar’s comments hint at digital signatures, which can be distinguished from images created using artificial technology.

This move follows other camera makers, such as Sony and Leica, who are also adding in-camera digital signature technology to verify the authenticity of their images. The Leica M11-P, for example, includes Content Credentials built-in, enabling a picture to have detailed metadata included at the point of capture, acting as a verification stamp for the image. Sony, earlier this year, detailed how its machine-based digital signature technology works on the Alpha 9 Mark III camera when an image is captured.

Artificial Intelligence is increasingly being used to trick people by creating fake images, fueling disinformation and political divisions, but also triggering an existential crisis for camera makers. Tech companies, photo agencies, and news organisations are now taking steps to address the issue and are trying to establish standards for content provenance and ownership. An alliance of global companies, including Adobe, BBC, Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI, as part of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), has come together to increase transparency around digital media as AI-generated content becomes more prevalent.

Earlier this year, Facebook-parent Meta said it would apply a “Made with AI” label to identify images synthetically produced by generative AI systems at scale across its social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. OpenAI also said that it will add C2PA metadata to images created with ChatGPT and the API for the DALL-E 3 model.

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