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- Hacker News
- after a local Stable Diffusion image generation
The request is JSON and contains at least these fields:..."prompt": "..."
Local SD (especially the earlier versions) is already uncensored, so they're effectively crippling it with additional spyware that phones home to tell Microsoft what you're doing and asking whether they approve of it. IMHO the invisible watermark isn't the worst part, but rather the fact that MS is logging every interaction you have with the model, which doesn't ever need to leave your machine.
by userbinator - What happens if you try to use this feature without being connected to the internet? Will it refuse to run the local AI model?by TonyStr
- As a linux fan I just love all these changes Microsoft have been introducingby cupantae
- As another Linux fan, I don't. What Microsoft does to their users changes the overton window of what's acceptable in tech. Before you know it there will be a politician demanding that all software systems that don't implement such tracking will be outlawed and there will be no one left to speak up to you because they are all already used to the tracking so why should you get a pass.by account42
- Xusheng here! I have not gone through all comments, but wish to clarify a few things:
1. The watermark only applied to AI-generated contents through the in-app AI (copilot/cocreator, etc). If you draw something by hand it is not watermarked
2. Privacy implications: I believe your MS account is linked to the prompt and the GUID. And the GUID is embedded into the image as both an insivible watermark and a file-level C2PA metadata. I did not write about this very deeply in my blogpost, but when I do an image generation, it deducts my AI credits (yes, MS gives you like 60 free AI credits), so MS surely knows where the prompt is coming from. Though I am not sure about their storage and retention, e.g., do they actually store the data, and if they do, for how long, etc
by xushengdev - I get the privacy concerns, and we are right to expect Microsoft to say that this is what their tool may be doing. However, I fear that one day we will look back and wonder why we didn't do more to sign and preserve human authenticity. Having a stamp saying "AI manipulated" should be a part of digital lineage tooling.by Delphiza
- Well if that's any reassurance, you can generate a meme picture using AI, then paste it into Paint to add some funny text. That way you can get the best of both worlds.by torginus
- If an adversary knows how the watermark is embedded they can replace it with noise so its not like you can rely on these watermarks anyway.by account42
- You can watermark AI without leaking who did it. That's just using AI to add yet another layer of user tracking.by jacquesm
- Googling you can see the source code for watermarking here https://github.com/microsoft/InvisMarkby dagaci
- I admit it’s a while since I’ve used windows, but it’s such a shock to hear that MS Paint isn’t just a point and click pixel coloring app anymore. It seems like they could have left it as a pure “paint” app and added the fancy stuff to some new image editor or something.
I guess they’ve optimized their workforce to just keep making changes so they get promoted rather than just creating really good software.
- it is kind of interesting when you think about it. what utility does something like paint actually have? did it ever have any real utility? (icon editing?) it always kinda felt like a demo that came with early versions of windows that didn't actually do anything useful.by a-dub
- If you read the article instead of the headline…….. it’s adding a fairly standard mark to AI generated images to let’s others know, in the same manner a giant swath of the GebAI industry has agreed to.by SideQuark
- Background removal is really useful though, saves a bunch of time.
Unfortunately, some of the regular paint tools like eraser don't erase in a smooth antialiased way and just end up looking jagged (also only a square shape for eraser...no eraser brush mode unfortunately), so it ends up being a better looking option (well, when it works properly, which it does often enough to be useful). For whatever reason a bunch of tools and transforms (scaling, rotating), just produce such garbage jagged looking results, it's not serviceable even for those basics.
by pxoe - JSPaint to the rescue:
It's a pixel-perfect modern clone (with some actually useful extras that won't get in the way unless you look for them), and yes, you can clone the repo and run it locally.
by alterom - Even Notepad isn’t a dumb app anymore! They made breaking changes after 40 years so it has autocorrect, rich text, and Copilot.
If I wanted all of that, I would have used a different app!
by SilasX - My goodness, this has nothing to do with AI problems.
I don't understand that people still buy an OS from a company that actively hates it's customers.
The amount of things they pull should not even be succesful on a OS you get paid FOR to use.
by mg794613 - > I don't understand that people still buy an OS from a company that actively hates it's customers.
Do you really think this is a problem confined to those who buy the OS they use?
by chrisjj - This is a pretty privileged take, isn't it?
What's the alternative? What if you work at literally any Fortune 500 company?
by s3p - Not that I love Microsoft, but they would get a lot of heat if they let anybody generate harmful content as well.
They can't win on that topic.
Now I would not want to appear to defend the mess they've created out of windows, that's not the point.
by alex_duf - Microsoft is still the best Indian OS manufacturer. And as such, it's forced upon people throats by corrupt Indian IT department heads, so a few non Indian people who actually care don't have a choice.by miroljub
- Its not that it hates its customers , as much as it it a USA-based company that is run under the rules made by the administration.
Not that much different from running Red Star OS from North Korea, actually.
by realo - I had this trigger the other day incorrectly and went and installed Paint.net. I pasted in a screenshot I took and just wanted to resize it. I got a banner saying it was made with AI and would be updated to reflect that.by JoeBOFH
- I guess it shouldn't be surprising if an application called "paint.net" can determined if AI was used when connected to the internet. (I have used Paint.net more than a decade ago).by initramfs
- Keep an eye on this.
A few months back, MS incorrectly tried to stamp a Copilot "watermark" (just an auto-added note) to any and all Azure DevOps commits, regardless of whether an LLM was actually involved. They removed it after a lot of github issues were submitted to the source of the issue which was a VS Code Copilot extension.
MS has been very sloppy in their implementations. I would recommend against using Paint or any other LLM enabled app they use as a result. Things may be getting incorrectly stamped.
- I would avoid junk from Microsoft entirely.by Gud
- The AI aspect of this is a red herring. The real problem is that they're secretly adding in a unique identifier into every image you create. If somebody does not like your meme, they can just send a copyright subpoena to Microsoft to instantly get your full name, address, email, phone number, and any other data associated with your Microsoft account. Just like age verification, this is another weapon in the war against internet anonymity.by weberer
- Why would they need to subpoena Microsoft and why will Microsoft hand them the data if someone doesn't like my meme? I understand what you are trying to say but it does not make a whole lot of sense even from Microsoft pov. They are not bound by law to hand over personal data to anyone without a warrant issued. If a warrant is issued then it is their lawful duty to give that data, the same would be done by you if you were in their shoes or your office or your family. Law is not optional to follow. But Microsoft doesn't need to do watermarking on memes to track you or to do this as a war against "internet anonymity".by altmanaltman
- > every image you create
*with the help of AI*. Does in fact make a difference.
by red_admiral - > Microsoft to instantly get your full name, address, email, phone number, and any other data associated with your Microsoft account.
Provided you bent the knee and created a Microsoft account.
by benterix