Have you seen those wild images of Elon Musk and other tech CEOs popping up all over the internet? Yeah, the ones where they're hanging out in less-than-glamorous locations? I'll admit, some of them look surprisingly real, which is why I think it's important to have tools to help us distinguish what's real and what's not.

The truth is, spotting AI-generated content can be tough. There are already some tools available online, but honestly, they're not always reliable. I've seen examples where even AI assistants like Grok get it wrong, which can be kind of funny, but also a little concerning.

Google's been working on this problem for a while, and they came up with something called SynthID, an AI watermark. The cool thing is, it's invisible to the naked eye. For a while, only Google had access to it, but that's just changed.

Now, anyone can upload an image to Gemini and ask if it has the SynthID watermark. If it does, you know it was created using Google's AI tools.

According to Google, all you have to do is upload the image to the Gemini app and ask a question like, "Was this created with Google AI?" or "Is this AI-generated?" Gemini will then analyze the image and tell you if it detects the watermark.

Of course, Gemini can only detect watermarks from images created with Google's AI tools. So, if an image was made with some other AI image generator, Gemini might not be able to tell. But that's probably why Google is launching SynthID detection now, given how many new AI image tools are popping up everywhere.

For example, those images of Musk and the other CEOs I mentioned earlier? Many of them were created with a new tool that's capable of producing incredibly realistic images. Some of those images got millions of views before people started questioning their authenticity. Running those images through Gemini actually confirms that they have the SynthID watermark!

While Gemini might not be perfect, it's a handy tool to have in your arsenal. If you see an image that seems too strange to be true, it's worth running it through Gemini to see if it's AI-generated.

I think it's going to get harder and harder to distinguish between real and fake images in the future. Sometimes, you just need to use your common sense. Would Elon Musk really be hanging out in a parking lot with Sam Altman? Maybe not. But then again, weirder things have happened!