I saw a photographer’s work wrongly accused of being AI, why do we have to prove our innocence? I want AI Content Credentials and a purple tick

I’ll admit it. Sometimes I get fooled by AI imagery. I can scroll through a gallery of photos or watch a video and it takes a while before I realize that I’m consuming AI-generated content. And I can only assume some AI content passes me by completely. But what about the reverse? This week, I saw an Instagram photographer being wrongly accused of pedaling AI-generated content, when they blatantly weren’t. And this isn’t an isolated incident.

I’m not just a photographer, I’m also a writer. And I’ve lost count of how many posts I’ve seen on LinkedIn lately, claiming that the en dash (–) is a hallmark of AI-generated text. Side note – human journos use it all the time. One post even suggested that purveyors of the en dash should quit using it or risk being labelled a chatbot. Great, so we’re skewing our creative autonomy in an attempt to outwit our AI overlords now, are we? Well, I’ve got news for the AI police – FB(A)I – it won’t work.

AI imitates. It’s always learning. It never sleeps. You can wriggle and writhe and contort your creative limbs as much as you like, but like a binary Bryan Mills, the latest AI tech has a very particular set of skills, skills it’s acquired over a very short period of time. Skills that make it a nightmare for creatives like you. Rogue AI will find your work and it will scrape it.

And this is generally where the anxiety of most creatives lies. Will AI replicate their work? Provide a cheaper service? A faster service? A better service? But if it wasn’t enough to see AI-generated content pop up all over the place, now creatives have to contend with AI accusations, too. I almost think that’s worse.

Of course, it’s not uncharted territory. The genericization of ‘Photoshopped’ that once plagued photographers has now been replaced with “that’s AI”. The problem is, we’re fast reaching a point where almost any image can be accused of being AI. And while RAW files do remain a get-out clause, the throwaway nature of short-form content and the vitriol of social media comment sections make it very difficult to defend yourself with reason.

I'm currently reading Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman's book, The Coming Wave: AI, Power and Our Future. In it, he talks about the importance of containment. Think of this as the idiom, you can’t put toothpaste back in the tube. That is to say that measures must be put into place to contain AI, before it spreads beyond control. That’s not to say AI should be suppressed or stopped, just dealt with in a manner that doesn’t relinquish our control of this powerful emerging technology.

Ultimately, I think Adobe's Content Credentials is a step in the right direction. I particularly like how it's embedded in AI-generated content from Adobe Firefly, proof that the work in question is AI-generated. After all, why should it be up to traditional creatives to prove their work isn't AI? Why can’t all AI-generated content carry some form of Content Credentials? I'd love to see social media platforms be more transparent about AI-generated material. We’ve got the ‘blue tick’, why can’t we have a red tick or purple tick or whatever for AI-generated content? This wouldn’t just benefit creatives, it’d benefit the world.

Sometimes I think I come across as an AI skeptic, but I’m not. I’m an AI realist. I know AI is here to stay, and I know it can do a lot of good. It’s up to us to limit the bad. Mustafa Suleyman is right, containment (now) is the answer.

Because, mark my words, we need to be more transparent about AI-generated material. Right now, those AI videos of world leaders with ripped physiques – straight out of an 80s action movie – might be entrenched in the uncanny valley, but the day will come when they’re not. And when that day comes, you’d better hope they come with a purple tick, or something...

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I've got a lot of thoughts on AI-generated content: AI-generated imagery poses a threat that isn't being talked about enough. We've got to be honest about our photography, too: In this new world of AI, photography will live and die by how transparent we photographers choose to be about the images we create. But that's not to say AI can't be hugely advantageous for photographers: I got to witness this AI-powered photo-and-video management software in action.