Google has opened its SynthID Detector to everyone. The tool checks image, video, and audio files for SynthID, Google’s invisible watermark for AI media, and is available globally in English starting today.
Pushmeet Kohli, VP of Science and Strategic Initiatives at Google DeepMind, announced the expansion in a blog post. Google introduced an early version of the detector last year, and journalists, media professionals and researchers could join a waitlist for access.
A social or content team can now check an image or clip for a SynthID watermark from Google or a partner before it goes into a post or campaign.
What The Detector Checks
The detector runs at synthid.com, where you upload a file to check it. According to the post, it can tell whether a file was made with AI from Google or its partners, including OpenAI, NVIDIA, and Kakao.
The site says the watermarks are added across generative AI consumer products from those companies, then adds:
“This is not a general AI detector. We can only detect media from the above companies, who have adopted SynthID technology.”
The site also asks for the best-quality copy of a file you have, saying that gives the most accurate result.
What A Result Says
Google’s post presents a sample video demonstrating the detection of “SynthID.” Its result panel displays “SynthID was detected” and states that “This media was made or edited with Google AI.” It also notes that the media “may have been edited further since then.”
The site’s FAQ explains that “no signal is completely robust” and advises “collecting multiple points of data before making a decision.”
Why This Matters
Since the detector’s result shows “made or edited,” a photo that has been touched up using Google’s AI and one that was created from scratch with it might both be labeled the same way. Plus, even if a file comes back without a watermark, it could still have been generated with AI by a company that doesn’t use SynthID.
Looking Ahead
Apple is the only detector partner Google announced as coming soon, with no release date. Google’s post only references English and omits other languages.
Featured Image: Google. Source: Google.
