Meta is incorrectly labeling real photos as “made with AI”

Meta announced in February that it would start labeling images generated with artificial intelligence on its social networks, implementing the “Made with AI” label on photos uploaded to Facebook, Instagram, and Threads since May. However, this Meta initiative has not yielded the expected results, as reported by TechCrunch, as it is starting to incorrectly label images that are not generated with AI.

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Among the dozens of cases of mislabeling is a photo uploaded to Instagram of the Kolkata Knight Riders celebrating their victory in the Indian Premier League of Cricket. The tag is only visible in mobile apps, not on the web. Several photographers have expressed concern about these false labels, arguing that simply editing a photo should not carry the “Made with AI” tag.

Pete Souza, former White House photographer, recounted that one of his photos was mistakenly tagged. In an email to TechCrunch, Souza explained that Adobe changed the functionality of its cropping tool, forcing him to “flatten the image” before saving it as a JPEG, which could have triggered the Meta algorithm to apply the tag. “What bothers me the most is that the post forced me to include the ‘Made with AI’ despite unchecking it,” Souza commented.

“Our intention has always been to help people know when they see AI-generated content,” a company spokesperson told TechCrunch. “We are taking into account the recent feedback and continue to evaluate our approach to ensure that our labels reflect the amount of AI used in an image.”

In a blog post in February, Meta explained that it uses image metadata to detect if they are AI-generated: “We are building industry-leading tools that can identify invisible markers at scale – specifically, the ‘AI-generated’ information in the C2PA and IPTC technical standards – so that we can label images from Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, Adobe, Midjourney, and Shutterstock.”

Although Meta has not clarified when the tag is automatically applied, some photographers support the company’s initiative, arguing that any use of AI tools should be disclosed. “We rely on standard industry indicators that other companies include in the content of their tools, so we are actively working with these companies to improve the process so that our labeling approach aligns with our intention,” the company stated.

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