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   Worryingly, Google Geminis new AI image generation features can be used to   
   remove watermarks from images and I'm concerned   
      
   Date:   
   Mon, 17 Mar 2025 12:16:05 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Gemini 2.0 Flash can remove watermarks from images which is deeply concerning.   
      
   FULL STORY   
   ======================================================================   
    - Google Gemin 2.0 Flash's image generator in AI Studio can remove watermarks   
   from images   
    - It seems to lack the guardrails found in the full Gemini app   
    - Gemini 2.0 Flash in AI Studio can also generate images of celebrities   
      
   Google Gemini 2.0 Flash's new image generation capabilities enable it to   
   remove watermarks from images so well that it could enable large scale   
   copyright violation and thats very concerning for all of us.    
      
   Lots of users on the X platform have posted examples of how theyve been able   
   to use the AI tool to easily remove watermarks.   
      
   Digital watermarks on images enable digital creators to show a preview of   
   their work before somebody decides to purchase it, at which point the   
   watermarks are removed. AI tools that remove watermarks on images for free    
   are nothing new but are deeply unethical, and can land you in legal hot water   
   if you use the stolen images they create in any way.    
      
   Other users on X have noted that Gemini 2.0 Flash accessed via AI Studio can   
   add celebrities into images, although in testing I found the results seem a   
   little bit random, with Gemini often refusing the request.   
      
   The power of AI Studio   
      
   Google recently released a new version of its Gemini 2.0 Flash AI model that   
   can generate its own images. This sounds slightly confusing when you realize   
   that weve all been able to go to gemini.google.com or fire up the Gemini app   
   and ask it to create an AI image for well over a year now.    
      
   However, what the mobile app and browser-based versions of Gemini do is call   
   upon Imagen 3, Googles flagship AI image generator, to generate the image for   
   them. Imagen 3 will not remove watermarks from images if asked.    
      
   Recently Google has enabled Gemini 2.0 Flash to create and modify images   
   itself. You cant access the image generation power of Google 2.0 Flash from   
   the regular Gemini interface, instead you need to access it via Googles AI   
   Studio, a developer-focussed interface for interacting with its latest AI   
   models.   
      
   Cause for concern   
      
   AI Studio is free to access and just requires a normal Google account for   
   registration. To test it out I uploaded a watermarked image and was able to   
   easily remove the watermark.    
      
   The results werent perfect - the image became slightly degraded and it added   
   its own Gemini star logo to the bottom left corner, but what is especially   
   concerning with the new Gemini 2.0 Flash watermark removal ability is how    
   well it does it.    
      
   Its clearly not the purpose that Gemini 2.0 Flash was created for, but the   
   fact that Google hasnt put sufficient guardrails in place with its image   
   generator is a concerning development and something that needs addressing   
   urgently.   
      
   TechRadar has reached out to Google for comment on this issue and will update   
   this story when we hear back.   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/worryingly-google-   
   geminis-new-ai-image-generation-features-can-be-used-to-remove-watermarks-from   
   -images-and-im-concerned   
      
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