Google rolls out improved SynthID AI content detector, now available globally

Every piece of AI content from Google’s Gemini models has a hidden SynthID label, which makes it very difficult to pass the content off as authentic. SynthID has also gotten buy-in from other major AI players, but actually checking for those invisible watermarks has been a convoluted process. It’s going to be a little easier going forward, though. Google has announced that its SynthID detector now supports watermarks from all its partners, and it’s available for anyone to use on a new dedicated website.

来自谷歌 Gemini 模型的所有 AI 内容都带有隐藏的 SynthID 标签，这使得将这些内容伪装成真实内容变得非常困难。SynthID 也获得了其他主要 AI 厂商的支持，但实际检测这些隐形水印的过程一直很复杂。不过，未来这种情况将会变得简单一些。谷歌宣布其 SynthID 检测器现已支持所有合作伙伴的水印，并且任何人都可以通过一个新的专用网站使用该功能。

SynthID is an invisible signal encoded in the pixels of AI-generated images and videos, and in the waveform of AI audio. Google says Gemini alone has integrated SynthID with over 180 billion images and videos, plus 240,000 years of audio. Until now, the only way for those outside of Google’s trusted tester program to check for SynthID was to ask Gemini. This is rather clunky, and the model’s output could sometimes be confusing when you just wanted a simple “yes” or “no.” Now you can cut Gemini out of the loop. Starting today, you can go to the new SynthID.com website to check a piece of content for an AI watermark.

SynthID 是一种编码在 AI 生成的图像和视频像素中，以及 AI 音频波形中的隐形信号。谷歌表示，仅 Gemini 就已将 SynthID 集成到超过 1800 亿张图像和视频，以及 24 万年的音频中。在此之前，谷歌受信任测试计划之外的人员想要检查 SynthID，唯一的办法就是询问 Gemini。这种方式相当笨拙，而且当你只想得到一个简单的“是”或“否”时，模型的输出有时会令人困惑。现在，你可以跳过 Gemini。从今天开始，你可以访问新的 SynthID.com 网站，检查内容是否带有 AI 水印。

A major limitation of Google’s previous detector was that it only checked for Google’s version of SynthID. Even though ChatGPT images, for example, have SynthID, they wouldn’t be flagged in Google’s detector. That’s no longer a problem. Google says that its expanded version of the detector will support the distinct watermarks from all its SynthID partners, including OpenAI, Nvidia, Kakao, and (soon) Apple. So you’ll be able to go there and check a file for the involvement of all those AI systems instead of accessing their detectors individually.

谷歌之前检测器的一个主要局限是它只能检查谷歌版本的 SynthID。例如，即使 ChatGPT 生成的图像带有 SynthID，它们也不会被谷歌的检测器标记。现在这不再是个问题。谷歌表示，其扩展版的检测器将支持所有 SynthID 合作伙伴的独特水印，包括 OpenAI、英伟达、Kakao 以及（即将加入的）苹果。因此，你可以在该网站检查文件是否涉及所有这些 AI 系统，而无需分别访问它们各自的检测器。

The website won’t provide as much information as the internal tool, which highlighted regions of the image that showed SynthID pixels. Instead, you’ll just get a message telling you whether SynthID was used to produce or edit the media. The new SynthID detector will tell you if it detects a watermark from any of the supported companies. You have to log in to use the tool, but it supports Google, OpenAI, and Apple accounts. While the detector is available to anyone, the login requirement limits how much you can use it. Google says each user gets “a daily usage quota of approximately 10 image, video, and audio checks.”

该网站提供的信息不如内部工具详细，内部工具可以高亮显示图像中包含 SynthID 像素的区域。相反，你只会收到一条消息，告知你该媒体是否使用了 SynthID 进行制作或编辑。新的 SynthID 检测器会告诉你是否检测到了任何受支持公司的水印。你必须登录才能使用该工具，但它支持谷歌、OpenAI 和苹果账户。虽然该检测器对所有人开放，但登录要求限制了使用频率。谷歌表示，每个用户拥有“每天约 10 次图像、视频和音频检查的使用配额”。

The previous detection tools had a similar limit. Google engineers have told Ars that limiting access is necessary to prevent people from using the checks to develop SynthID removal tools. The fuzziness about the exact number is likely because the system may lock you out sooner if you’re checking multiple images that are very similar. This could signal someone is trying to tune a bypass workflow.

之前的检测工具也有类似的限制。谷歌工程师告诉 Ars，限制访问是必要的，以防止人们利用这些检查来开发 SynthID 去除工具。关于具体次数的模糊性，很可能是因为如果你检查多张非常相似的图像，系统可能会更快地锁定你。这可能预示着有人正试图调整绕过流程。

Expanding access to SynthID detection is a good thing—it’s a convenient single destination to check media for the signature of popular AI tools. However, Google’s partners are far from the only sources of AI content. Some model providers use different watermarking tech (like Meta), while others use no watermarks at all. And then there are open-weight models that people can run on their own hardware to produce increasingly realistic AI content that doesn’t even include simple metadata labeling. That means there is plenty of AI content that will not be identified as AI in the SynthID tool. The website will have a disclaimer saying as much.

扩大 SynthID 检测的访问权限是一件好事——这是一个方便的单一目的地，可以检查媒体是否带有流行 AI 工具的特征。然而，谷歌的合作伙伴远非 AI 内容的唯一来源。一些模型提供商使用不同的水印技术（如 Meta），而另一些则根本不使用水印。此外，还有一些开放权重的模型，人们可以在自己的硬件上运行，生成越来越逼真的 AI 内容，甚至不包含简单的元数据标签。这意味着有大量的 AI 内容无法在 SynthID 工具中被识别为 AI。网站将会有相应的免责声明。

It’s also plausible that despite Google’s efforts, someone will find a way to remove SynthID, making existing AI content look more legit. It’s not a perfect system, but that’s the reality of relying on proactive watermarking for AI images, which are proliferating across the Internet at an astonishing rate. The best approach might be the opposite—using cryptographic technologies like C2PA to label real images, video, and audio as they are created. Google’s Pixel phones are among the few devices doing just that. In the meantime, SynthID is the best bet you’ve got to identify AI fakes.

同样可以预见的是，尽管谷歌做出了努力，但仍有人会找到去除 SynthID 的方法，使现有的 AI 内容看起来更真实。这不是一个完美的系统，但这就是依赖主动水印来处理 AI 图像的现实，而这些图像正以惊人的速度在互联网上激增。最好的方法可能是反其道而行之——使用 C2PA 等加密技术在真实图像、视频和音频创建时就进行标记。谷歌的 Pixel 手机是少数做到这一点的设备之一。在此期间，SynthID 是你识别 AI 伪造内容的最佳选择。