Adobe trains AI to detect Photoshop-edited images
San Francisco: Adobe, along with researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, have trained Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect facial manipulation in images edited using Photoshop software.
At a time when deepfake visual content is getting commoner and more deceptive, the decision is also intended to make image forensics understandable for everyone.
"This new research is part of a broader effort across Adobe to better detect image, video, audio and document manipulations," the company wrote in a blog-post on Friday.
As part of the programme, the team trained a convolutional neural network (CNN) to spot changes in images made with Photoshop's "Face Away Liquify" feature, which was intentionally designed to change facial features like eyes and mouth.
On testing, it was found that while human eyes were able to judge the altered face 53 per cent of the time, the trained neural network tool achieved results as high as 99 per cent.
The tool also identified specific areas and methods of facial warping.
Adobe's execution in detecting facial manipulation came just days after doctored videos of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and US Speaker Nancy Pelosi made the rounds on social media as well as news channels.
"This is an important step in being able to detect certain types of image editing, and the undo capability works surprisingly well. Beyond technologies like this, the best defence will be a sophisticated public who know that content can be manipulated, often to delight them, but sometimes to mislead them as well," said Gavin Miller, Head of Research, Adobe.
Adobe's Photoshop software was originally released in 1990.
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BESCOM to organise EV expo for Secretariat employees in Jan 2025
Bengaluru (PTI): To encourage the adoption of electric vehicles (EV), Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) announced on Friday that a special EV fair will be organised for the Secretariat employees in January 2025.
During a meeting at the BESCOM office, Managing Director Mahantesh Bilagi said, "The fair is being organised following a directive of Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh and will be conducted under the supervision of Energy Minister K J George and Additional Chief Secretary of the Energy Department Gaurav Gupta."
According to him, the event aims to educate attendees about the benefits of environmentally friendly EVs and to encourage the adoption of two-wheeled EVs.
"During the fair, dealer discounts to government employees, particularly those in the Secretariat will also be offered. There will also be opportunities for practical demonstrations of the vehicles at the exhibition site," added Bilagi.
He said the Secretariat employees will also benefit from no down payment and low-interest loans to purchase the EV vehicles.
"EV companies are eager to participate and the sales will extend beyond the exhibition, continuing in the future," the Managing Director said.
The state, particularly Bengaluru, has the highest electric vehicle (EV) users, said Bilagi, adding that to support this, the Energy Department has provided essential infrastructure.
"BESCOM's efforts in promoting EV usage have been recognised with the 'Charge India 2024 Excellence' award. This award is a testament to our commitment to establishing excellent charging facilities. Karnataka has the country's most public electric vehicle charging stations, with a total of 5,765 stations, of which 4,462 are located in the Bengaluru Urban district," said Bilagi.
The Secretariat Employees' Association president Ramesh Sanga and other office-bearers, BESCOM Technical Director H J Ramesh as well as senior officials attended the meeting.
