Sony takes on fake images by working on ‘in-camera authenticity’ technology

Sony is planning to take on AI-generated images with its upcoming ‘in-camera authenticity’ technology. Developed in partnership with the non-profit news organisation Associated Press and Camera Bits, the company recently announced that it has completed the second round of testing. The technology introduces a digital signature that “allows for the creation of a birth certificate for images, validating the origin of the content”. 

"While the rapid evolution of generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) brings new possibilities for creative expression, it has also led to growing concern about the impact of altered or manipulated imagery in journalism," said Sony's Neal Manowitz. "The dissemination of false information and images has real world social impact that brings harm not only to our photojournalist and news agency partners, but to society as a whole. We care deeply about this challenge and are committed to using our resources to help solve it. Through Sony’s work on the steering committee for C2PA (Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity), we have helped set the current industry standard for the tracking of editing and manipulation of imagery. Additionally, our in-camera authenticity technology has shown valuable results, and we will continue to push its development towards a wider release."

In addition to generating a "birth certificate" in the camera, Sony also looked at ensuring transparency throughout the post-capture editing and publication processes. The project worked with Camera Bits, developer of the Photo Mechanic post-processing workflow suite, to ensure that the digital signature and subsequent changes to each image is preserved in the metadata. 

Sony has already announced that C2PA authentication technology is to be added to its latest pro camera, the Alpha 9 III, and has now confirmed that the Alpha 1 and Alpha 7S III will also join the fight against fake imagery via a firmware update from the Northern Hemisphere spring of 2024.