Over the past year, big tech firms have been releasing AI tools into their software offerings. But as it becomes easier to manipulate images and videos with generative AI, there has been a second wave of partner policies launching to better inform people when that technology has been applied to content.
Google is the latest to follow this trend. After introducing tools like Magic Editor last spring and incorporating AI into its video editor last month, Google Photos will begin labeling visual content that has been modified with AI.
Google was already tagging AI-modified images with the associated metadata, but now edited photos will be accompanied by a plain language statement. The example the company shared in its blog post has a section titled “AI Information” at the bottom of the image details screen.
This then lists attribution of the AI tool used to optimize the image. It will also tell when an image has been modified with generative AI or when an image is a combination of multiple photos without the use of generative AI, such as with the Best Take feature. The new language will appear in Google Photos from next week.
Amid signs of stagnation in the economy, Britain is focusing entirely on AI. On Monday, British minister Keir Starmer announced a new AI Opportunities Action Plan. At the heart of this initiative are “AI Growth Zones”, which the government plans to set up in non-industrial areas across the country.
In these zones, the Labour government will speed up planning approvals for data centres and provide better access to the national energy grid. Starmer said the UK’s first AI Growth Zone would be set up in Culham, Oxfordshire, home to the country’s Atomic Energy Authority.
More zones will be announced in the summer. At the same time, Starmer’s government plans to increase state-owned computing capacity 20-fold, starting with the “immediate” construction of a new supercomputer that will have “enough AI power to play chess five million times per second.” As of November 2024, the U.K. has 14 supercomputers on the TOP500 list, placing it well behind the U.S. and China.
Additionally, the plan will see the government establish a National Data Library, which it says will make the country more attractive to investors by allowing private industry to “unlock the value of public data safely and securely.”
Finally, a new AI Energy Council will work with energy companies to meet the AI industry’s electricity demands, in line with the government’s clean energy strategy.
“Artificial intelligence will bring incredible change to our country. From helping teachers personalise lessons, to helping small businesses keep their records, to speeding up employment applications, it has the potential to transform the lives of working people,” Starmer said.
“But the AI industry needs a government that is on their side, that doesn’t sit back and let opportunities slip through their fingers. And in a world of fierce competition, we can’t stand idly by.”
Over the next 10 years, Starmer’s government estimates their strategy could generate up to £47 billion ($57 billion) in annual economic growth. The announcement comes after the UK economy failed to grow in the third quarter of last year.
From that perspective, making the country more attractive to outside investment isn’t the worst idea – especially when companies like Microsoft plan to spend $80 billion on new data centres this year.