Apple is ‘concerned’ about AI turning real photos into ‘fantasy’

Apple is concerned about AI altering photo authenticity with new editing tools.

: Apple is focusing on maintaining photo authenticity with its AI-powered editing tools in iOS 18.1. The 'Clean Up' feature allows limited object removal, unlike Google's more expansive capabilities. Apple highlights concerns over AI's impact on photo reliability. Edited images will be marked, similar to Adobe's Content Authenticity Initiative.

Apple is addressing concerns about AI's impact on photo authenticity as it plans to release new AI-powered editing tools with iOS 18.1. These tools, including the 'Clean Up' feature, are intended to offer users minimal editing capabilities by removing unwanted objects from images, ensuring that the photos maintain their original essence.

Apple's software chief, Craig Federighi, discussed the company's hesitation in providing more advanced editing options. Unlike competitors like Google and Samsung, which allow users to add AI-generated elements to images, Apple's tools are designed to preserve reality by tagging edited photos with 'Modified with Clean Up' and embedding metadata to indicate alterations.

The concern extends to generative AI editing apps' potential to create misleading or deceptive content. Apple's approach aims at reducing this risk by ensuring that changes are clear and detectable, aligning with initiatives like the Content Authenticity Initiative, which Adobe supports to distinguish between altered and authentic images.

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