tools

Facebook and Instagram's attempts to avoid users being misled by AI-generated photos have backfired. Several users report photographs they took themselves as being falsely labeled as made by AI tools. Meta, which owns both sites plus social ... discussion tool Threads, has started adding a "Made with AI" label to images. In some cases it's there because the users has ticked a box to say they used AI to make the image. In other cases, it's because Meta's detection tools have flagged the image. The site has felt pressure to clearly indicate AI-generated images that could be designed to fool and ... (view more)

YouTube says video creators must reveal when they have used artificial intelligence tools. However, the rules only apply in specific circumstances. According to YouTube, creators using AI is not a problem in itself. Instead it wants viewers to be ... better informed about "whether the content they're seeing is altered or synthetic." The new requirement only applies when people use such tools create "realistic content", which YouTube defines as "content a viewer could easily mistake for a real person, place, scene or event." (Source: blog.youtube ) Animation OK There's no need to label AI-based ... (view more)

Disgruntled artists have exploited a flaw in artificial intelligence image generators to "poison" their learning. They are looking for revenge on AI operators who use artwork without permission to train their tools. Like most generative AI, image ... tools learn by analyzing millions of pictures and accompanying captions. In turn, the AI creates its own checklist for what particular words or phrases mean. They also learn styles of image and art. While some AI tools are "trained" with permission on libraries of licenses of images, others simply trawl the Internet and use any images they can find. ... (view more)

Google is adding new tools to make it easier to check if an image is credible and as it appears. But the move has highlighted the irony of Google's own involvement in "generative" artificial intelligence. The tools include several additions to ... Google's own search results, along with a dedicated tool for checking any image found online. The search tools have been in testing and are now rolling out to all users, starting with English language searches in the US. They are wrapped up in a featured called "About this image". This will accompany images with information including if and when they ... (view more)

Artificial Intelligence tools aren't as useful for writing malware as it first seemed. However, they may be useful for phishing scams and other social engineering. Two recent security company reports covered by The Register explored how malware ... scammers are particularly interested in AI tools that generate material. The theory goes that such tools could write code designed to exploit vulnerabilities in software and websites. (Source: theregister.com ) It's not a completely outlandish theory as some users have found such tools can efficiently write code for a particular task. It can take ... (view more)

Microsoft Defender has come in last in two separate tests of Windows 11 security software. It's a surprise result given it generally did well on Windows 10. There's some comfort for Microsoft, however, as the nature of the testing means many users ... won't notice that much difference in practice. That's important given Microsoft Defender (previously Windows Defender) is built-in to Windows 11. The first rankings came from AV-Test, which describes itself as "The Independent IT-Security Institute." It ran a series of tests on 19 products using "realistic test scenarios" and "real-world threats." ( ... (view more)

Facebook is to ditch some tools which tracked a user's location. It seems to be more about the tools being little used than a sudden interest in boosting privacy. The tools all involved tracking a user's location in real time and using the ... information to provide some sort of service. Perhaps the best known was "Nearby Friends" which lived up to its name, telling users if anyone they knew on Facebook (or at least anyone who also had the feature switched on) was in the area, allowing for semi-spontaneous meet-ups. The tools also included localized weather alerts. In both cases, many users ... (view more)

Microsoft has a bunch of potentially-useful Windows 10 and 11 tools available to install. Rather oddly though, they aren't part of the Windows Update system. Instead users must manually download and install the "PowerToys" tools from independent ... software site GitHub. While that site is generally safe, users can follow the link from Microsoft's powertoys page to make sure they get the latest edition. The package includes 11 tools which generally offer simple solutions to very specific problems. Many are based on the work of independent developers. Find Your Mouse Easily Mouse utilities is ... (view more)

A feature used in several ad blocker tools could be used to "booby trap" websites according to a security researchers. It appears to be a low but credible risk. The problem is all to do with the way many ad blockers work. In simple terms, they ... maintain a blacklist of URLs that host ads and other unwanted material. Whenever a website tries to load an ad from an URL on the list, it's blocked from doing so. Since last summer some ad blockers, including Adblock Plus, added support for a feature called "$rewrite." With this feature, the ad blocker won't just block the unwanted URL from ... (view more)

Facebook is testing new tools to stop people being fooled by bogus messages. Meanwhile it's subsidiary "Whatsapp" is working on ways to stop hoaxes and other false information. The Facebook trial is for a series of tools relating to the direct ... messaging elements of the service, which includes messages through the website itself and via the dedicated "Messenger" app for mobile devices. The tools are aimed at messages which come from people or organizations the user hasn't previously communicated with, which carry a higher risk of being bogus than from genuine contacts. The ... (view more)