Meta Unveils ‘Made with AI’ Tag for Images

Meta is planning to introduce a new labeling system for photos created using artificial intelligence (AI) tools across its social platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. These photos will display a “Made with AI” label, as frequently mentioned by the company.

However, there have been instances where Meta incorrectly applied this label to photos not generated by AI tools. For example, a photo of the Kolkata Knight Riders winning the Indian Premier League Cricket tournament was mistakenly labeled, raising concerns about the accuracy of Meta’s labeling system.

A notable incident involved former White House photographer Pete Souza, who found one of his photos tagged with the “Made with AI” label. Souza speculated that changes in Adobe’s cropping tool, requiring image flattening before saving as a JPEG, might have triggered Meta’s algorithm to apply the label. He expressed frustration, noting he had unchecked the option to include the label, yet it was added anyway.

Meta claims to use photo metadata to determine whether the “Made with AI” label should be applied. The company aims to implement industry-leading tools to detect invisible markers indicating AI generation, based on standards like C2PA and IPTC.

This approach includes labeling images from major tech companies like Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, Adobe, Midjourney, and Shutterstock as they add metadata indicating AI usage.

Despite these efforts, Meta has not clarified exactly when its algorithm automatically applies the “Made with AI” label. Currently, there are no distinct labels to differentiate whether a photo was enhanced using AI tools or generated entirely by AI. This lack of clarity makes it difficult for users to understand the extent to which AI was involved in creating a photograph.

While some photos on Meta’s platforms are indeed AI-generated, the company’s algorithm has not always labeled them correctly, leading to confusion among users and photographers alike.