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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Andrew Griffin

How iPhone 18 Pro camera feature can help users amid rise in AI-generated content

  • Apple has introduced a new tool called Apple Reference Image for the iPhone 18 Pro camera, designed to prove that photographs are authentic and unedited amid the rise of AI -generated content.
  • The feature captures an encrypted digital negative alongside the photo, which is processed through secure servers to confirm the image was taken by a real camera sensor at a specific time.
  • To use the tool, photographers must manually activate a special secure mode, restricting its functionality strictly to the iPhone 18 Pro main camera.
  • The system is aimed at photojournalists and news organisations documenting real-world events, enabling them to verify image authenticity without revealing their personal identity.
  • While Apple Reference Image cannot identify whether an external image is fake, it allows users to definitively prove that their own captured photos depict genuine events.

IN FULL

iPhone 18 Pro has a quiet feature that addresses one of the biggest problems with AI – and it could become the new normal

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