Google recently launched a feature called "About This Image" that allows users to verify the origin and authenticity of images and understand how they are used on other websites.
In its blog, the multinational technology company from the United States announced its desire to create tools and resources that will help users navigate the Internet more confidently.
"Google search has built-in tools for finding quality information and understanding the context of what you see on the Internet. Today, we're announcing three new ways to get more information about the images you find and their sources," the blog post said.
In early 2023, the company introduced a new feature in its search engine called “About this image”. On October 25, this feature was expanded to English-speaking Google Search users worldwide. This tool makes it easy for people to verify the authenticity and context of images they encounter online. Here's what users can learn with it:
Users can find the history of an image, including when the image or similar photos first appeared in a Google search, and whether they were previously published on other web pages.
This can be useful when an image is used out of context and associated with a current event, even though it is actually much older. Google Search now lets you see how other websites use and describe images.
Users can see how the image is being used on other pages and what other sources, such as news sites or fact-checking sites, are saying about it. This information can be useful for evaluating the claims made about the image, as well as for obtaining perspectives and evidence from other sources. Image metadata is now available to users. People can view metadata added by image creators and publishers, including information that may indicate that the image was created or enhanced using artificial intelligence. All images generated by Google AI will have these tags in the source file.
"Now, with this image, you can be sure that the Leaning Tower really exists and is not a digital illusion," the editors of the Google blog wrote.
To use this feature, users need to select an image in Google search and click on the three dots in the upper right corner. The tool will then show you the date the image was published, its history online, and how it is described on different websites. Google also promises to add new ways to access this tool in the coming months.
In June 2023, Google also introduced a feature that helps people understand what clothes will fit them regardless of size, and provided additional options for finding products using search and image recognition technology. The search giant has implemented neural network tools to help users find their own style and avoid trips to stores.
Also this month, Google's AI was trained to "see" images. The neural network is based on LG AI Research's Zero-shot Image Captioning technology, which enables AI to understand and describe objects or scenes it sees for the first time, using its previous experience and knowledge, just like humans do.
