Topline
Adobe has now integrated an AI tool that allows people to create pictures from text prompts into Photoshop, the company announced Tuesday morning, making it the latest software company to lean into artificial intelligence.
Adobe has incorporated AI technology into Photoshop, the company announced Tuesday, allowing people … [+]
Key Facts
Generative fill using Firefly—a new AI tool integrated into Photoshop’s desktop app—will work similarly to other AI image software like DALL-E, by allowing people to “add, extend, or remove content” from images using text prompts.
In an effort to increase transparency, images created using Adobe’s new AI technology will have a label in their content credentials—which Adobe calls “nutrition labels” with metadata for photos— to indicate the image has been altered using AI.
In addition to labeling images as AI-generated, Adobe is also only training Firefly on licensed, high-resolution content that it has the rights to, in order to ensure the program won’t create content “based on other people’s work, brands or intellectual property,” according to a release.
The generative fill tool does still have restrictions and is in beta testing; it is not available for commercial use, to people under 18 or in China, and it only works with text prompts in English, though Adobe has estimated it will be fully released to the public in “the second half of 2023,” The Verge reported.
Key Background
Adobe is just the latest tech company to integrate AI tools into its repertoire, following in the footsteps of Google and Microsoft, which both plan to incorporate AI into search engines and offer chatbot-like services. Adobe began beta testing Firefly in March, but the company says it has experimented with AI-powered editing tools for years. The increase in AI technology is concerning to some as experts warn about its ability to replace human workers, and one recent report showed it could impact up to 80% of the U.S. workforce. Earlier this year, tech giant IBM said it will stop hiring for non-customer-facing roles that AI can do—eliminating about 7,800 jobs. Concerns are high that the technology to alter images with AI is advancing beyond human ability to detect fake images, which could lead to more distrust in society. Recently, AI-generated images have gone viral ranging from Pope Francis wearing a Balenciaga coat to images of former President Donald Trump resisting authorities during a fake arrest. In response to concerns that Adobe’s tool will put the ability to create fake images in even more hands, an Adobe executive told Axios, “We’re already in that world” and people who want to do harm with deepfakes have the knowledge to do so.
News Peg
Adobe’s announcement comes one day after a seemingly AI-generated image of an explosion outside the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia went viral, leading people to believe there’d been an attack at the Pentagon. A Department of Defense spokesperson confirmed to Forbes the image, which dominated Google searches and Twitter, was fake as government officials continue to warn about the dangers of AI-generated misinformation.
Further Reading
Adobe adds generative AI to Photoshop (NBC News)
Adobe’s new Photoshop tools make fakery even easier (Axios)
Fake Image Of Explosion Near Pentagon Went Viral—Even Though It Never Happened (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2023/05/23/photoshop-adds-ai-image-generator-as-concerns-over-fake-images-rise/