The new Apple Image Playground app in iOS 18 will label images as AI-generated

Apple Image Playground app
Image Playground will appear in a future iOS 18 beta (Image credit: Apple)

At WWDC 2024 earlier this week, Apple announced a whole host of AI features coming to its various software platforms, including an Image Playground AI art generator in iOS 18 – and now we've got some more information about how the app is going to work.

As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple VP of software engineering Craig Federighi said in an interview during WWDC that iOS 18 is going to "mark up metadata" so that image files come with details stating whether or not they're made by AI.

While the current developer beta of iOS 18 doesn't include any of the upcoming AI features – so no Image Playground app – some digging into the beta code by the 9to5Mac team found references to image "forensics" that would identify AI-generated files.

Put that together and it's clear that Apple has been thinking about how to encourage the responsible use of AI – which Apple is calling Apple Intelligence on its own devices – and how to stop faked pictures being passed off as real.

Apple and AI art

Image Playground app

Image Playground will be able to create AI art on demand (Image credit: Apple)

From what we know about Image Playground already, the app will pop up in various places – like Messages or Notes – whenever you need to create a new AI picture. It might be a custom emoji, for example, or an image of a friend in your choice of setting.

Pictures created by Image Playground will take the style of cartoons and illustrations rather than photos, so that's one way Apple is protecting against these tools being misused. If you're not sure what to create, prompt suggestions are included too.

These AI models have been trained on "licensed data" and "publicly available data" pulled from the web, Apple says. In other words, if your art is online, Apple Intelligence was probably trained on it – unless the site it was published on opted out of the process.

The Image Playground capabilities are going to be made available in a future beta, according to Apple, but out of the currently available iPhones only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will have the necessary power to run it. These AI art generation features will also be available on Apple Silicon Macs.

You might also like

TOPICS
David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

Read more
Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence explained: The new Apple AI for your iPhone, iPad and Mac explained
Apple Intelligence Image Playground feature on stage at WWDC 2024
Here's how to create your own images on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac with Image Playground
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max REVIEW
The iPhone 16 is getting a neat Apple Intelligence upgrade with iOS 18.3 – here are 3 new tricks I'm excited about
iOS 18
iOS 18: new features, compatible devices, and everything you need to know
Apple products all showing different versions of the Apple Photos app
Apple Photos could actually win you over in iOS 18.4 – here are 4 improvements that are coming
Apple Intelligence logo on an iPhone.
Apple's next iOS and macOS update will turn on Apple Intelligence if your iPhone or Mac can run it
Latest in iPhone
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max REVIEW
The latest iPhone 17 Pro Max leak may have given us another look at its upcoming redesign
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max REVIEW
New iPhone 17 Air leak may have revealed some key specs – and how it compares to the iPhone 17 Pro Max
Apple iPhone 16 Review
Three iPhone 17 model dummy units appear in a hands-on video leak
Apple iPhone 16 Plus Review
iPhone 17 Air leaks suggest it'll get next-gen battery – and offset the 17 Pro Max's weight gains
Two hands holding the Tecno Spark Slim phone
The world’s thinnest phone was just revealed, but a new iPhone 17 Air leak suggests it could be even slimmer
Apple iPhone 16e on blue background
This week's best Apple iPhone 16e deals: where to get the latest iPhone for cheap
Latest in News
Brad Pitt looks over his right shoulder with 'F1' written behind him
Apple Original Films will take you behind-the-scenes of a racing cockpit in this new thrilling F1 movie trailer
AI writer
Coding AI tells developer to write it himself
Reacher looking down at another character from the Prime Video TV series Reacher
Reacher season 3 becomes Prime Video’s biggest returning show thanks to Hollywood’s biggest heavyweight
Image showing detail of the Leica D-Lux 8
Still can't get a Fujifilm X100VI? This premium Leica compact costs less, and it's in stock
Man using iMessage on an iPhone
Apple will finally enable encrypted RCS messages between iOS and Android, and it's about time
Google Messages update
Google Messages could soon follow WhatsApp with an upgrade that makes it much easier to join group chats