The Verge raises serious journalistic questions on the legitimacy of images taken using Google’s latest phones because the AI tools in Pixel 8 are much more readily available to manipulate them from the moment they’re taken to having them saved and published.

While the AI-adjusted images may have certain markers embedded, they may not be easily detected without specific tools unless it’s an obvious visual label permanently affixed to the image.

What is a photo? Is it a snapshot of a single millisecond in time? An imprecise memory of a moment? An ideal depiction of an otherwise imperfect brief period? How much is too much manipulation?

Smartphone captures from any brand are almost entirely manipulated after all with software adjustments converging to create the best version of a snapshot, but until now, they are still generally accepted as accurate photographs of a specific moment due to the lack of meaningful deviation from the truth.

When it comes to casual personal collection of photos and videos, these adjustments don’t or won’t amount to anything too serious but for journalistic purposes, these techniques advances pose questions and challenges.

Journalism outlets have guidelines to determine what photo or footage is acceptable to be considered a true capture and the results of a typical smartphone snapshot usually don’t change anything meaningful from the actual scene, but when the definitive capture no longer represents the truth, will the media authorities need to restrict the use of certain devices?

While manipulated images have made their way to major publications undetected until it was too late, they are still relatively rare. 

Of course, photographers have always been able to manipulate situations by changing or adjusting the scene before capturing and sometimes only the presence of a witness or the existence of another image depicting the actual truth can serve as evidence of manipulation.

When the tools people use can significantly alter what was actually taken by the lens before a definitive record is made or saved into the camera’s memory, instead of after, journalism authorities and watchdogs will need to be even more vigilant.