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Remove-AI-Watermarks – CLI and library for removing AI watermarks from images

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Re: Remove-AI-Watermarks – CLI and library for removing AI watermarks from images

#111
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can trivially false-flag any image by uploading it to gemini and asking it to return it as-is

That's not what the previous comment is referring to. They're referring to false positives, i.e "Gemini did not generate this (or process it) yet it says SynthID confirmed"

So imagine the damage you could do to an artist by having Gemini flag it then saying “see here’s the proof they’re using AI art!” That person would get eaten alive.

Re: Remove-AI-Watermarks – CLI and library for removing AI watermarks from images

#112
post #46
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have not read anyone claim that SynthID had a false alarm issue, so if it returned positive I would believe it is synthetic.

it does have a false negative issue

An issue this tool exacerbates. Labeling AI output is a good thing.

Re: Remove-AI-Watermarks – CLI and library for removing AI watermarks from images

#113
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As yes, the hobbyist built nuclear weapons program..... Legalize recreational plutonium.

To be fair the state works pretty hard to crush "hobbyist" nuclear weapons programs so you don't really know how far it could get.

so which one is it here?

This subthread starts off with the argument that the big corps will never beat the little determined hackers, one of the founding myths of the early internet. And then every now and then a strong little branch of the argument runs up against an example and it becomes well sure, the little hobbyist hackers don't have anything there but that is because the big corps/gov/billionaires/whatever put so much into beating them.

I mean reading it all certainly sounds like the people on the little guy's side are overestimating the value of pluck, an observation Hollywood generally makes just before the heroes with pluck win for ever!

Re: Remove-AI-Watermarks – CLI and library for removing AI watermarks from images

#114
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people are just biased to the point that telling them something is AI when it's actually not will cause them to convince themselves such: https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/real-monet-ai-c...

Interesting. And now this not-AI-generated-actually-real-cropped-Monet-AI-joke has been sold to an AI art collector for 40k. https://x.com/SHL0MS/status/2055281312697647223

The most amusing part of that experiment was that even Grok got convinced that it was AI-generated: https://x.com/grok/status/2054432219460977142

Re: Remove-AI-Watermarks – CLI and library for removing AI watermarks from images

#115
post #12
post #7

There's an underappreciated comment in the other thread about SynthID and OpenAI [0] that captures what (IMO) the hacker ethos on this should be. We care about privacy, we should not accept tools that barcode our every digital move. (note that the counter of "well, they don't do that yet " is not particularly convincing) [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48200060

Building a tool that tries (and probably fails) to remove the watermark (due to the arms race that large corporate machines will win) is tacitly accepting the barcode. The hacker ethos should be, first and foremost, to run open source models locally without relying on a corporation.

> No use messing with Google's watermark, fellas. Go do something else that's 100x harder instead.

> works for Google

Gee, I wonder why...

Re: Remove-AI-Watermarks – CLI and library for removing AI watermarks from images

#116
post #7

There's an underappreciated comment in the other thread about SynthID and OpenAI [0] that captures what (IMO) the hacker ethos on this should be. We care about privacy, we should not accept tools that barcode our every digital move. (note that the counter of "well, they don't do that yet " is not particularly convincing) [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48200060

Its what happens when people in power are paranoid dark-triad types and want to be able to catch anyone who threatens their power and stick it to them..

It already happened with Trump claiming any unfavorable content of his administration is "AI-generated" as a defense to dismiss real, unedited media. He literally said, “If something happens that’s really bad, maybe I’ll have to just blame AI.”

ie the video of garbage being thrown out the windows that his team already confirmed was real:

https://www.kptv.com/2025/09/03/trump-says-video-showing-ite...

Also the Lincoln Project video footage him him stumbling while walking and over his words: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/12/04/donald-tru...

Re: Remove-AI-Watermarks – CLI and library for removing AI watermarks from images

#117
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Building a tool that tries (and probably fails) to remove the watermark (due to the arms race that large corporate machines will win) is tacitly accepting the barcode. The hacker ethos should be, first and foremost, to run open source models locally without relying on a corporation.

>due to the arms race that large corporate machines will win Much like how the entirety of Hollywood, book publishers, academic publishers, and game developers have won against piracy despite being some of the largest corps on earth and dedicating untold billions to the issue over the past 30 years?

[deleted]

Re: Remove-AI-Watermarks – CLI and library for removing AI watermarks from images

#118
post #12
post #7

There's an underappreciated comment in the other thread about SynthID and OpenAI [0] that captures what (IMO) the hacker ethos on this should be. We care about privacy, we should not accept tools that barcode our every digital move. (note that the counter of "well, they don't do that yet " is not particularly convincing) [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48200060

Building a tool that tries (and probably fails) to remove the watermark (due to the arms race that large corporate machines will win) is tacitly accepting the barcode. The hacker ethos should be, first and foremost, to run open source models locally without relying on a corporation.

This is the “instead of using seatbelts, we should invest in trains” argument.

Re: Remove-AI-Watermarks – CLI and library for removing AI watermarks from images

#120
post #36
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It either works reliably or it doesn't; if it doesn't, it's better that everybody be clear about that.

Fair enough. While I would kind of wish AI could be reliably detected, deep down I know this is impossible and it would be pretty bad if we had, say, a prosecution that succeeded because "this 'provably-non-AI' photo places you at the scene of the crime" because only a few underground people know how to remove a watermark.

I also wonder if being able to prove that an image or video isn’t AI generated would lend credence to it, while in reality there are other methods to produce falsified video.
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