Get the latest tech news

Watermarking the future

Policymakers love watermarks almost as much as they hate deepfakes. Will DC’s favorite solution hold up to the hype?

The Biden administration has made a big deal out of watermarks as a policy solution, even specifically mandating tech companies to find ways to identify AI-generated content. But watermarking itself — according to A History of Graphic Design — began during the Middle Ages, when monks would change the thickness of the printing paper while it was wet and add their own mark. Adequate tagging from AI developers would, in theory, also show the provenance of AI-generated content, thus additionally addressing the question of whether copyrighted material was used in its creation.

Get the Android app