Google’s Circle to Search could soon protect you from fake AI-generated images
As is the trend for most AI-infused products these days, Circle to Search is expanding once again. The feature, which premiered on the Galaxy S24 series back in January of this year and subsequently rolled out to other Android devices, allows you to simply circle anything on the screen – whether it’s a delicious slice of cheesecake while scrolling through Instagram, or the next fashion item – and get search results for it.
Now, Google is expanding Circle to Search with a version of this handy tool. You can still circle anything you want on the screen, but if you’re looking for information about an image, it can now add extra context and even look at the metadata, which can tell you what type of camera the image was taken with and even when it was taken or exported.
Furthermore, About This Image promises to tell you if it’s an AI-generated image that contains invisible pixels. There’s a catch, though: the image must have Google’s DeepMind Synth Watermark.
Along with identifying that hidden watermark or metadata, you can see more context around the image. In an example of a cloud that looked like a UFO, the search returned results from other sites that had the same image or an image that looked like it; in this case, news sites that provided the context. It wasn’t a UFO, but rather a very unique-looking cloud. To some extent, it’s nice to see Google relying on publishers to provide the context instead of an AI-generated piece of text.
Still, it’s nice to see Google expanding Circle to Search’s capabilities and adding a feature you may already be familiar with. The feature starts rolling out today (July 31), so it may not be available on your device right away. If your Android device — like a Pixel 8 Pro, Galaxy Z Fold 6, or dozens of others — supports Circle to Search, you may see it right away, and you can also use it in Google Lens on Android or iOS.
The Google Lens integration rolls this out to a few more people, and there you can take a photo of something or upload a screenshot of the image in question instead of circling it. Both routes, “About this image” within Circle to Search, are supported in 40 languages worldwide.