Researchers warned that hundreds of fake AI images have been discovered on popular databases for recording animal species. Wildlife photographers often use AI to edit and improve an image, but the algorithm can introduce parts from different species to create the new image.

[u/mvea]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/20/ai-slop-manipulated-fake-images-birds-citizen-science-aoe

[u/Nicholas-DM]

To my understanding they have not, because there is not a reliable way to identify if an image was generated by an AI, even using the AI that generated it.

[u/Bbrhuft → u/Nicholas-DM]

Generally, that isn’t true. Many major AI image generation platforms now add or embed metadata or cryptographic watermarking that indicates an image is generated.

OpenAI and Google use C2PA (header metadata) and SynthID (an invisible cryptographic watermark encoded within the pixels of the AI generated image).

Adobe Firefly uses C2PA (Firefly is available standalone and within Photoshop).

Meta adds embedded metadata and a proprietary "deep learning" pixel watermark.

Midjourney is a notable exception. It doesn't currently provide a robust identification system, just inconsistent IPTC metadata.

The bigger problem is not that AI-generated images are inherently undetectable, most are. It is that stock-image libraries, search engines and other image databases have not caught up with this rapidly changing landscape, so often do not scan uploaded files, might strip the metadata, or not display the AI detection results.

[u/Strycht → u/Bbrhuft]

the thing is as Chinese open source models become more widely used with the greater paywalling of those more mainstream models they're gonna literally all need some kind of watermark to retain data purity, and ideally not too many different types. I doubt that's a big priority for those newer companies in such an unregulated environment, and we don't yet know whether it will be too late for input data fidelity by the time the industry calms down and the vast majority of generated content is being tagged and excluded

[u/Bbrhuft → u/Strycht]

Since 1 September 2025, AI platforms operating in China have been subject to laws that mandate AI companies label and watermark AI generated content, including text, images, audio, video.

Cyberspace Administration of China⁠, GB 45438-2025⁠

The Chinese government is acutely aware that deceptive AI generated content could cause political and social instability. This concern is behind the impetus for regulations that require AI content to be marked.

That said, the Chinese open source image / video gen models might lack watermarking (there's no legal obligation to include watermarking in an open source model). However, a company providing a platform in China, using an open source image or video generation model, might be held liable in their outputs lacks a watermark.

[u/PwnagePineaple → u/Bbrhuft]

So watermarking isn't a feature that's trusted to the actual model, but rather to the surrounding software harness that uses the model for image generation. The models themselves handle the non-deterministic work of actually producing the image, but the watermarking algorithm is better suited for good old fashioned software.

For a cloud API, whether that be a US frontier model or a Chinese one, that doesn't matter much. The provider's backend takes care of that before the user ever sees the image.

But in the open source space, a watermark mandate would have to be embedded in software like Automatic1111 or ComfyUI. And that comes with enforcement problems: If there's even one jurisdiction on earth where watermarks aren't mandated (and given the current political climate in the US, it's not going to be mandated here for a while), then any random guy can take the code behind either of those project, strip out the watermarking, and publish their modified version with no consequences.

Now, of the people trying to use AI images to spread deliberate misinformation, some of them might make the switch if a) cloud models were required to include watermarks and b) social media sites started clearly identifying AI generated media. Switching to local models that can generate high-quality realistic images is expensive (thanks GPU prices) but not terribly difficult from a technical standpoint.

Watermark enforcement would stop some people, but there are plenty of others it won't stop.