Google Messages just made it easier to spot AI-edited photos in your group chats

Sanuj Bhatia / Android AuthorityTL;DR Google Messages now supports Content Credentials, letting you check how compatible photos, videos, and audio were created or edited, including whether AI tools were involved. It won’t tell you whether something is real or fake. Content Credentials only show the history attached to a file, and media without credentials won’t provide this information. The feature is currently Android-only. Press and hold supported media, tap Info, and look for How this was made to see its origin and editing history. A couple of months ago, we spotted Google Messages preparing a useful new trick for the age of AI: a way to tell you about where the photos, videos, and audio people send you actually came from. That feature is now available, and it could come in handy the next time something in your group chat looks too good to be true.Google Messages now supports Content Credentials, which essentially give compatible media a digital history. Instead of leaving you to stare at a suspicious photo and wonder whether it was shot with a camera, heavily edited, or created with the help of AI, Messages can show you some of that information directly.Joe Maring / Android AuthorityThese credentials are based on the C2PA standard. The easiest way to think about it is as a digital paper trail attached to a photo, video, or audio file. So, imagine a friend sends you a beautiful sunset photo. Content Credentials could tell you that the image started life as a camera photo but was later edited using AI tools. In some cases, Messages may know that an image was edited but won’t have enough information to say whether AI was involved, in which case it’ll tell you that it “may have been edited by AI tools.”There is one important limitation, though. Google Messages can’t tell you whether something is real or fake. It can only show you the history recorded with that file. So, if the file contains Content Credentials showing that AI tools were used to edit it, you now have a pretty useful clue before forwarding it to someone else.The feature also won’t work with everything you receive. If that information was never attached to the file, Google Messages won’t have anything to show you. So, importantly, the absence of Content Credentials doesn’t mean a file is authentic or hasn’t been edited.Another thing to keep in mind: Content Credentials are currently limited to the Google Messages app on Android. You won’t be able to check this information through Google Messages for web, so you’ll need to grab your Android phone if you want to investigate a suspicious photo or video someone sent you.How to check if a photo was edited with AI in Google MessagesJoe Maring / Android AuthorityThankfully, you don’t need to dig through a maze of settings to check any of this. Open Google Messages on your Android phone and head into the conversation containing the photo, video, or audio you want to investigate. Then, follow these steps: Press and hold the message containing the media. Tap the Info option to open its details. Scroll down until you find How this was made. If Content Credentials are available, Messages will show you information about the media’s origin and editing history, including whether AI tools were used. Depending on the file, you may see that it was captured using a camera or microphone, edited using AI, edited using non-AI tools, or possibly edited with AI when Messages can’t confidently make that distinction. If you don’t see a How this was made section at all, it means Messages doesn’t have compatible Content Credentials to show you. That’s also why this feature probably won’t settle every argument about suspicious photos landing in your group chats just yet. Content Credentials still need much broader adoption before you can expect them on everything people send you.Still, it’s a useful step. Spotting AI-generated media by looking for strange fingers, mangled text, or objects that don’t quite make sense isn’t going to remain reliable forever. Getting actual information about where a file came from and how it was changed feels like a much better place to start.Thank you for being part of our community. Read our Comment Policy before posting.